Optical and water-repellent characteristics of an anti-reflection protection layer for perovskite solar cells fabricated in ambient air

Abstract Glass texturing represents a cost-effective and important technology for the improvement of the optical path length through trapping of the incident light in the solar cells. However, this process causes a haze phenomenon that adversely affects the transmittance, thereby reducing the usability of solar cells as glass electrodes. In this study, an anti-reflection layer is applied to glass texturing surface to solve these issues and enhancing efficiency of the perovskite solar cell. The anti-reflection layer reduced the haze phenomenon while maintaining the advantage of glass texturing. Moreover, the hydrophobic property of the anti-reflection layer prevented dust or water contamination of the perovskite solar cell, thereby ensuring the stability of the device. Glass texturing using an anti-reflection layer enabled an ideal balance of the transmittance and reflectance of the substrate and, in turn, enhanced light-harvesting. Consequently, we achieved a short-circuit current density of 21.70 mA/cm2 and a power conversion efficiency of 13.95%.