Hot carrier transport in solar cells

Abstract

The study presents the findings on photovoltage formation in solar cells subjected to pulsed laser excitation. Transient photovoltage measurements reveal that the photoresponse comprises two components with opposite polarities, expressed as U = U_f + U_ph. The fast component, which mirrors the laser pulse profile, arises from the heating of charge carriers by the incident light. In contrast, the slow component corresponds to the conventional photovoltage generated through electron–hole pair creation. The detrimental effect of hot carriers on the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells can be alleviated by reducing band bending near the charge transport layers or by adopting a multijunction cell architecture. This approach enhances spectral utilization and minimizes thermalization losses.