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A spin-coating-free fabrication sequence has been developed for the fabrication of highly efficient organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A novel blow-drying method is demonstrated to be successful in depositing high quality mesoporous TiO2 (mp-TiO2), methylammonium lead halide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite and spiro-MeOTAD layers. When combined with compact TiO2 (c-TiO2) deposited by spray pyrolysis which is also a spin-coating-free process, a stabilized power conversion efficiency exceeding 17% can be achieved for the glass/FTO/c-TiO2/mp-TiO2/ CH3NH3PbI3/spiro-MeOTAD/Au device. This is the highest efficiency for PSCs fabricated without the use of spin-coating to our knowledge. This method provides a pathway towards a scalable process for fabricating high-performance, large area and reproducible PSCs.

A simple and scalable interface-layer free monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem has been demonstrated achieving over 20% efficiency on a large area.

Emerging photovoltaics (PVs), focuses on a variety of applications complementing large scale electricity generation. For instance, organic, dye-sensitized and some perovskite solar cells are considered in building integration, greenhouses, wearable and indoors, thereby motivating research on flexible, transparent, semitransparent, and multi-junction PVs. Nevertheless, it can be very time consuming to find or develop an up-to-date overview over the state-of-the-art performance for these systems and applications. Two important resources for record research cells efficiencies are the National Renewable Energy Laboratory chart and the efficiency tables compiled biannually by Martin Green and colleagues. Both publications provide an effective coverage over the established technologies, bridging research and industry. An alternative approach is proposed here summarizing the best reports in the diverse research subjects for emerging PVs. Best performance parameters are provided as a function of the photovoltaic bandgap energy for each technology and application, and are put into perspective using, e.g., the Shockley-Queisser limit. In all cases, the reported data correspond to published and/or properly described certified results, with enough details provided for prospective data reproduction. Additionally, the stability test energy yield (STEY) is included as an analysis parameter among state-of-the-art emerging PVs.

Following the 1 release of the “Emerging PV reports” , the best achievements in the performance of emerging photovoltaic devices in diverse emerging photovoltaic research subjects are summarized, as reported in peer-reviewed articles in academic journals since August 2020. Updated graphs, tables and analyses are provided with several performance parameters, e.g. power conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill factor, light utilization efficiency, and stability test energy yield. These parameters are presented as a function of the photovoltaic bandgap energy and the average visible transmittance for each technology and application, and are put into perspective using, e.g., the detailed balance efficiency limit. The 2 instalment of the“Emerging PV reports” extends the scope towards tandem solar cells and presents the current state of the art in tandem solar cell performance for various material combinations.