Recycling Silicon Bottom Cells from End-of-Life Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells

Perovskite-silicon tandem cells have shown much higher efficiencies than single-junction cells, which promises further reduction of energy cost from photovoltaics. Due to the protection by perovskites, silicon subcells in perovskite-silicon tandem cells may last much longer than those in single-junction devices. Herein, we report recycling silicon bottom cells from end-of-life perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, which further reduces their cost and enhances the sustainability. We demonstrate that silicon bottom cells can be recycled from end-of-life tandem cells by thermal delamination and chemical cleaning processes. The optoelectronic properties of silicon bottom cells were shown to be largely unchanged in the end-of-life tandem cells. The efficiencies of tandem cells refurbished from recycled silicon bottom cells are comparable to those fabricated from fresh cells.