Cost Analysis of Perovskite Tandem Photovoltaics

Recently, metal halide perovskite photovoltaics (PV) are marching toward commercialization. The possibility for perovskite absorbers to be incorporated into multi-junction solar cells is also being discussed, which suggests alternative market entry. Although intensive investigations are being made on their technical feasibility, serious analysis on the cost of perovskite-based tandem modules is lacking. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of solar modules is often used to evaluate technoeconomic competitiveness. Here, we performed a detailed cost analysis on two perovskite-based tandem modules (the perovskite/c-silicon and the perovskite/perovskite tandem module) compared with standard multi-crystalline silicon and single-junction perovskite solar cells. We found that perovskite PVs (both single junction and multi-junction) are competitive in the context of LCOE if the module lifetime is comparable with that of c-silicon solar cells. This encourages further efforts to push perovskite tandem modules onto the market in the future. Solar energy is the most abundant resource to power this planet. Photovoltaics (PV) harvest solar energy in a clean manner, wherein the relevant technologies are mostly based on crystalline silicon. Featuring skyrocketing efficiency and extreme low cost, hybrid halide perovskite solar cells have emerged as the most promising next-generation PV technology. Moreover, they can be coupled with a complimentary absorber to form tandem solar cells, which may face fewer obstacles for market penetration by capitalizing on the established PV industry. It is thus important to establish the technoeconomic competitiveness of final electricity production. We estimated the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) using a sensitivity analysis by varying the materials, module efficiency, and lifetime. We found that perovskite tandem PVs are potentially competitive, and further efforts are required to simultaneously improve the efficiency and lifetime of perovskite PVs to stand over the entire energy sector. Perovskite tandem solar cells show technoeconomic competitiveness over the PV market.