Architecture of symmetrical bifacial perovskite/Si/perovskite PV modules and LCOE comparison in bifacial applications

Abstract

Perovskite on silicon tandem technologies offer a promising way to overcome the efficiency limit of single-junction crystalline silicon modules and are therefore widely studied. Besides the cost reduction potential of using tandem modules in utility-scale PV plants, the application of bifacial PV modules offers additional opportunities to reduce costs by increasing the energy yield. However, the bifaciality factor of tandem PV modules using bifacial crystalline silicon solar cells is typically lower than that of single-junction bifacial modules, considering the asymmetric architecture of the module with higher front-side than rear-side efficiency. In this study, we assess a symmetrical bifacial triple-junction perovskite/silicon/perovskite PV module architecture which allows for a significant improvement of the PV module rear side efficiency. Cost of ownership, energy yield and levelized cost of energy modeling show the superior performance of such modules compared to crystalline silicon and perovskite/silicon tandem modules specifically in vertical mounting applications that are used e.g.in AgriPV or noise protection PV walls on highways.