Synergistic cooperation between photovoltaic and thermoelectric effects in solar cells

Ping Fu; Dong Yang; Yihua Chen; Ruixue Lu; Md Azimul Haque; Yucheng Liu; Yaoyao Han; Hui Li; Ruotian Chen; Jieqiong Liu; Wei Qin; Luis Huerta Hernandez; Fengtao Fan; Kaifeng Wu; Derya Baran; Huanping Zhou; Can Li

doi:10.1039/d5ee01548k

Synergistic cooperation between photovoltaic and thermoelectric effects in solar cells

Ping Fu, Dong Yang, Yihua Chen, Ruixue Lu, Md Azimul Haque, Yucheng Liu, Yaoyao Han, Hui Li, Ruotian Chen, Jieqiong Liu, Wei Qin, Luis Huerta Hernandez, Fengtao Fan, Kaifeng Wu, Derya Baran, Huanping Zhou, Can Li^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Efficient utilization of thermal energy generated from infrared light has long been a focal point in the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Theoretically, the thermal energy can be converted to electricity through the thermoelectric (TE) effect. However, integrating PV and TE effects in a PV device for solar-to-electricity conversion has remained largely unexplored. Herein, we investigated the concurrent utilization of PV and TE effects under a temperature gradient (ΔT) across perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 27.17% (26.87%, average) was achieved for FAPbI₃-based PSCs at ΔT = 10 °C, compared to the control cases with a PCE of 25.65% (25.28%, average). The exemplary PCE is attributed to full spectrum utilization of solar energy and directional regulation of charge carrier transport induced by built-in temperature gradients, which facilitates their efficient collection. Our findings reveal the TE effect in the PV process and demonstrate the synergistic cooperation between PV and TE effects for enhancing the performance of PSCs.

Original language	English
Journal	Energy and Environmental Science
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ee01548k
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 2025
Externally published	Yes

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10.1039/d5ee01548k

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@article{cc4753ebe50e4b40a115b8cf45366112,

title = "Synergistic cooperation between photovoltaic and thermoelectric effects in solar cells",

abstract = "Efficient utilization of thermal energy generated from infrared light has long been a focal point in the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Theoretically, the thermal energy can be converted to electricity through the thermoelectric (TE) effect. However, integrating PV and TE effects in a PV device for solar-to-electricity conversion has remained largely unexplored. Herein, we investigated the concurrent utilization of PV and TE effects under a temperature gradient (ΔT) across perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 27.17\% (26.87\%, average) was achieved for FAPbI3-based PSCs at ΔT = 10 °C, compared to the control cases with a PCE of 25.65\% (25.28\%, average). The exemplary PCE is attributed to full spectrum utilization of solar energy and directional regulation of charge carrier transport induced by built-in temperature gradients, which facilitates their efficient collection. Our findings reveal the TE effect in the PV process and demonstrate the synergistic cooperation between PV and TE effects for enhancing the performance of PSCs.",

author = "Ping Fu and Dong Yang and Yihua Chen and Ruixue Lu and Haque, \{Md Azimul\} and Yucheng Liu and Yaoyao Han and Hui Li and Ruotian Chen and Jieqiong Liu and Wei Qin and Hernandez, \{Luis Huerta\} and Fengtao Fan and Kaifeng Wu and Derya Baran and Huanping Zhou and Can Li",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Royal Society of Chemistry.",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1039/d5ee01548k",

language = "English",

journal = "Energy and Environmental Science",

issn = "1754-5692",

publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Synergistic cooperation between photovoltaic and thermoelectric effects in solar cells

AU - Fu, Ping

AU - Yang, Dong

AU - Chen, Yihua

AU - Lu, Ruixue

AU - Haque, Md Azimul

AU - Liu, Yucheng

AU - Han, Yaoyao

AU - Li, Hui

AU - Chen, Ruotian

AU - Liu, Jieqiong

AU - Qin, Wei

AU - Hernandez, Luis Huerta

AU - Fan, Fengtao

AU - Wu, Kaifeng

AU - Baran, Derya

AU - Zhou, Huanping

AU - Li, Can

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Efficient utilization of thermal energy generated from infrared light has long been a focal point in the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Theoretically, the thermal energy can be converted to electricity through the thermoelectric (TE) effect. However, integrating PV and TE effects in a PV device for solar-to-electricity conversion has remained largely unexplored. Herein, we investigated the concurrent utilization of PV and TE effects under a temperature gradient (ΔT) across perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 27.17% (26.87%, average) was achieved for FAPbI3-based PSCs at ΔT = 10 °C, compared to the control cases with a PCE of 25.65% (25.28%, average). The exemplary PCE is attributed to full spectrum utilization of solar energy and directional regulation of charge carrier transport induced by built-in temperature gradients, which facilitates their efficient collection. Our findings reveal the TE effect in the PV process and demonstrate the synergistic cooperation between PV and TE effects for enhancing the performance of PSCs.

AB - Efficient utilization of thermal energy generated from infrared light has long been a focal point in the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Theoretically, the thermal energy can be converted to electricity through the thermoelectric (TE) effect. However, integrating PV and TE effects in a PV device for solar-to-electricity conversion has remained largely unexplored. Herein, we investigated the concurrent utilization of PV and TE effects under a temperature gradient (ΔT) across perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 27.17% (26.87%, average) was achieved for FAPbI3-based PSCs at ΔT = 10 °C, compared to the control cases with a PCE of 25.65% (25.28%, average). The exemplary PCE is attributed to full spectrum utilization of solar energy and directional regulation of charge carrier transport induced by built-in temperature gradients, which facilitates their efficient collection. Our findings reveal the TE effect in the PV process and demonstrate the synergistic cooperation between PV and TE effects for enhancing the performance of PSCs.

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U2 - 10.1039/d5ee01548k

DO - 10.1039/d5ee01548k

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105005748337

SN - 1754-5692

JO - Energy and Environmental Science

JF - Energy and Environmental Science

ER -

Synergistic cooperation between photovoltaic and thermoelectric effects in solar cells

Abstract

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