• Energy Research

The use of metal‐halide perovskites in photovoltaic applications has become increasingly attractive due to their low‐temperature manufacturing processes and long charge‐carrier lifetimes. High‐bandgap perovskite solar cells have potential for indoor applications due to their efficient absorption of the spectrum of light‐emitting diodes (LEDs). This study investigates the performance of high‐bandgap perovskite solar cells under a wide range of lighting conditions, including a commercially available white LED lamp with a 5–40 000 lx illuminance range and a standard 1 sun reference. The performance of CH3NH3PbI3‐based perovskite solar cells to CH3NH3Pb(I0.8,Br0.2)3 solar cells with varying electron transport layers (ETL), including PCBM, PCBM:CMC, and CMC:ICBA fullerene combinations, is compared. Because the spectral response of perovskite solar cells covers the white LED spectrum very well, the major performance difference is related to the open‐circuit voltage and fill factor. The cells with the CH3NH3Pb(I0.8,Br0.2)3 absorber layer and the CMC:ICBA ETL demonstrate superior open‐circuit voltage and therefore a high efficiency above 29% at 200–500 lx, typical for indoor lighting.

Abstract Integration of photovoltaics (PV) with electrical energy storage (battery) is a straightforward approach to turn intermittent power source into stable power supply. Power coupling, or power matching, between PV-device, a battery, and a load is most frequently performed with aid of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) electronics. MPPT electronics provides high flexibility as for PV and load impedances, and irradiance, however, it brings in additional cost, and complexity, power overhead, potential reliability issues, and interference signals. On the other hand, direct coupling via preselection of PV and battery parameters is a simple scalable and highly efficient alternative to MPPT for a specific set of conditions. We explore with modeling how far a directly coupled PV-battery unit can stay power-matched under various conditions, and demonstrate feasibility of excellent power matching over orders of magnitude of irradiance and a wide range of load resistances. Both a PV-harvester in an office room with low irradiance, non-demanding load, and high autonomy, and a PV-system on a roof with high irradiance, demanding load, and partial autonomy, can operate efficiently without MPPT electronics if an appropriate battery is included. This result emphasizes the role of a battery as an impedance matching element besides storage functionality in a directly matched PV-system.