Technical Challenges and Perspectives for the Commercialization of Solution-Processable Solar Cells

As the new-generation photovoltaic technologies, organic solar cells (OSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) offer significant advantages over Si- and CdTe-based solar cells, that is, facile low-temperature solution processability and excellent cost-performance ratios. At present, OSCs and PVSCs have achieved very high certified power conversion efficiencies of 17.5% and 25.5%, respectively, which have already approached the efficiencies needed for commercial applications. However, there are still several obstacles that need to be overcome before they can be deployed as new-generation of printable photovoltaic technologies. More efforts also need to be devoted to finding applicable methods for manufacturing highly efficient, large-area devices and improving their long-term operational stability. Thus, this article provides a comprehensive review on the current status and technical challenges for commercializing these two solution-processable solar cells.