Detailed-balance efficiency limits of two-terminal perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells with planar and Lambertian spectral splitters

We derive the photovoltaic conversion efficiency limit for two-terminal tandem solar cells with a perovskite top cell and silicon bottom cell with an embedded spectrum splitter. For large-bandgap top-cells, a spectrum splitter strongly enhances the efficiency because of enhanced light absorption and trapping. A Lambertian spectral splitter shows a significantly improved effect compared with a planar splitter. We find an ideal efficiency enhancement for a 500-nm thick top cell of 6% absolute for bandgaps above 1.75 eV. Vice versa, the use of a spectral splitter geometry enables the use of a thinner top cell. Using experimental parameters for perovskite cells, we show that for a top-cell bandgap of 1.77 eV a 2.7% absolute efficiency enhancement can be achieved. The calculations in this work show that integration of a spectral splitter into perovskite/silicon tandem cells for which the top cell is limiting the overall current can lead to a large increase in efficiency, even with realistic experimental losses and nonunity reflection of the spectral splitter.

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