Integration of Metal Meshes as Transparent Conducting Electrodes into Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

As the demand for photovoltaic technologies continues to grow, the quest for efficient and sustainable transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) rapidly rises. Traditional solutions, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), face challenges related to indium scarcity and environmental impact. To tackle these issues, we develop a novel metal mesh rear TCE consisting of gold micro-meshes as ITO replacement in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Our study reveals that optimized Au meshes can guarantee 75% of the extracted photocurrent compared to reference devices with ITO, and a promising power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.65%. By utilizing hybrid mesh structures with a 10 nm ITO layer, the PCE further improves to 12.1%, with the extracted current exceeding 80% of the reference. Metal meshes can even serve to replace the opaque metal contact of PSCs, amplifying their functionality and efficiency through bifacial and multi-junction applications. In this study, aerosol jet-printed silver meshes serve as front electrodes, combined with either 5-10 nm of Au, achieving efficient semi-transparent devices (PCE 16.8%), or with 5-10 nm of ITO, providing enhanced bifacial properties while maintaining competitive efficiency. Overall, this work highlights remarkable features of metal meshes, making them promising alternatives to commonly used TCEs in optoelectronic applications.