Integrating Perovskite Solar Cells on Polycarbonate Film Substrates

Zeynab Skafi^a, Luigi Angelo Castriotta^a, Babak Taheri^b, Fabio Matteocci^a, Matthias Fahland^c, Farshad Jafarzadeh^a, Ebin Joseph^a, Abhisek Chakraborty^a, Vaibhav Singh^a, Vahid Mottaghitalab^d, Leila Mivehi^e, Francesca Brunetti^a, Luca Sorbello^f, Aldo Di Carlo^a^,^g, Thomas M. Brown^a

^aCHOSE (Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy), Department of Electronic Engineering, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy

^bENEA Frascati Research Centre, Superconductivity Section, Frascati, Italy

^cFraunhofer FEP, Department R2R-Technologies, Dresden, Germany

^dDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan, Gilan, Iran

^eDepartment of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan, Gilan, Iran

^fHalocell Europe, Rome, Italy

^gIstituto di Struttura della Materia (ISM-CNR), Rome, Italy

Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV25)

Roma, Italy, 2025 May 12th - 14th

Organizers: Filippo De Angelis, Francesca Brunetti and Claudia Barolo

Oral, Zeynab Skafi, presentation 203
Publication date: 17th February 2025

The growing demand for polycarbonate (PC) has highlighted its versatility across various applications. However, its inherent surface roughness and limited chemical resistance have hindered its integration as a substrate in solar cell technologies. Here, we present the first successful fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) on PC films, enabled by a solution-processed planarization layer that reduced surface roughness from 1.46 µm to 23 nm while enhancing chemical resistance. This approach improved the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of PC films by 47%, with an additional 81% reduction achieved through ITO sputtering. The optimized PSCs achieved a power conversion efficiency of 13.0% and demonstrated excellent mechanical stability, retaining over 87% of their performance after 1000 bending cycles. Stability tests (ISOS-D-1, ISOS-T-1) showed promising T80 values of 1776 h and 144 h, respectively. This work paves the way for integrating perovskite photovoltaics into flexible applications such as smart ID cards, self-powered packaging, and energy-harvesting windows, offering new possibilities for lightweight and versatile solar technology.

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to thank Dr. Paolo Aielli, Eng. Giuseppe Ghisa, Dr. Laura Luciani, Eng. Andrea De Maria, and Eng. Enrico Colaiacovo at the Institute Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) for their contributions to the initial conceptualization of using polycarbonate films, providing materials, and engaging in technical discussions on polycarbonate and its applications. This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Research (MUR) through the PRIN2022 PNRR INPOWER (Project No. P2022PXS5S) and PRIN2022 REPLACE (Project No. 2022C4YNP8) grants, as well as the Lazio Region through ISIS@MACH (IR approved by Giunta Regionale No. G10795, 7 August 2019, published in BURL No. 69, 27 August 2019). Additional funding was provided by Lazio Innova under the PR FESR LAZIO 2021-2027 grant “Riposizionamento competitivo RSI” (Det. No. G18823, 28 December 2022) within the “Economia del mare, Green economy e Agrifood” sector (Project IGEA). Z.S. acknowledges the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for financial support through the "Study in Italy" program (2022–2024). L.A.C. acknowledges the Horizon Europe program (Grant No. 101068387, EFESO). A.C. acknowledges funding from MUR and NextGenerationEU (SOE Project ID: 0000101) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant (No. 101111407).

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