Influence of parasitic optical losses on the performance of perovskite solar cells

Abstract Parasitic optical losses, including free-carrier absorption and absorption from the rear mirror, could significantly affect the performance of solar cells. Although estimates of their influence have been made in the past, they have not previously been incorporated into the absorptivity of semiconductor materials and their influence on the performance of perovskite solar cells studied quantitatively. This paper numerically investigates the impact of both typical kinds of parasitic optical losses on the performance of perovskite solar cells utilizing the detailed balance model. It is found that the free carrier absorption loss has nearly no influence on the performance of perovskite solar cells, but parasitic absorption at the rear mirror can significantly affect the performance of solar cells. For thin film perovskite solar cells, parasitic absorption significantly affects the short circuit current, open circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency (PCE), but for thick solar cells, the short circuit current is nearly independent of the parasitic absorption; it seriously affects the open circuit voltage and PCE.