Ultra-thin high efficiency semitransparent perovskite solar cells

•Highly efficient and semitransparent perovskite solar cells have been fabricated.•A multilayered MoO3–Au–MoO3 top electrode has been developed and optimized.•The thickness of the perovskite absorber can be reduced to ~50 nm.•Record efficiencies at any given visible transmittance have been achieved.

Solar cells based on organometal trihalide perovskite light absorbers have recently emerged as one of the most promising class of photovoltaic devices. Given their high performances, along with their low fabrication costs, such devices are appealing for building integrated photovoltaics, especially if made semitransparent and used as solar windows. In this study, efficient perovskite solar cells with high transparency in the visible spectrum have been developed. These devices comprise a dielectric–metal–dielectric multilayered top electrode with high transparency and conductivity, and an optimized solution-based thin and continuous methylammonium lead iodide film. Through this combination of processing and device architecture developments, semitransparent solar cells with high visible transmittance and record power conversion efficiency have been prepared, including devices with a perovskite thickness as low as 55 nm.

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