Improved performance of lead-free Perovskite solar cell incorporated with TiO ₂ ETL and CuI HTL using SCAPs

Perovskite Solar Cells (PSC) are the fastest-growing generation of solar cells due to their high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) in a short period of time, simple synthesis process, high open-circuit voltage, and low cost. However, perovskite stability and the use of the toxic heavy metal of lead (Pb) are two significant challenges that still haunt the development of perovskite-based solar cells. This paper focuses on distinguishing and optimizing several key layers in the PSC structure; Electron Transport Layer (ETL), the absorber layer, and Hole Transport Layer (HTL) by conducting studies on the influence of various parameters towards the solar cell performance using SCAPs software device simulation. Moreover, distinct types of metal back contact also have been studied. In this simulation, it is found that each layer affects the performance of PSC and proves that the optimization of each layer effectively improves the performance of the PSC. Remarkable results of the optimized structure have achieved impressive PSC performance with J_SC (29.516 mA / cm²), V_OC (1.3088 V), FF (73.26), and PCE (28.30%) by the parametric analysis.