Perovskite solar cell – electrochemical double layer capacitor interplay

• Published in: Electrochimica acta 2017-12, Vol.258, p.825-833
• Main Authors: Intermite, Stefania, Arbizzani, Catia, Soavi, Francesca, Gholipour, Somayeh, Turren-Cruz, Silver-Hamill, Correa-Baena, Juan Pablo, Saliba, Michael, Vlachopoulos, Nickolaos, Morteza Ali, Abdollah, Hagfeldt, Anders, Grätzel, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrochemical double-layer capacitor; Perovskite solar cell; Supercapacitor integration
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.11.132

We demonstrate that by a proper design of a system comprising a perovskite solar cell (PSC) coupled to an electrochemical double-layer capacitor (EDLC), it is possible to simultaneously improve both the PSC and EDLC performance and outperform each single unit behavior. Specifically, we propose a parallel connection of PSC and EDLC of different size. The EDLC buffers PSC fluctuations by storing the converted solar energy permitting for very high power output (increased by 1 order of magnitude). At the same time, the PSC improves the capacitive response of the EDLC that can be downsized towards system miniaturization. [Display omitted] •Smart parallel connection of perovskite solar cell and supercapacitor.•Parallel connection improves each single unit connection.•Parallel connection does not need electronic circuit to commute light/dark operation.•Parallel connection effectively buffers discontinuities in solar energy conversion.•Current and capacitance are higher than those featured by the single units.