The Impact of Dust Particles on the Function of Screen-Printed Triple-Mesoscopic Perovskite Solar Cells

Screen-printed mesoporous carbon perovskite solar cells (m-CPSCs) offer a low-cost manufacturing approach that could significantly reduce upscaling costs, providing an accessible pathway to green energy production opening new opportunities in countries where this is currently cost-prohibitive. Clean rooms represent a very expensive investment and overhead, presenting a significant barrier to reducing production cost. Despite this, very little research has been carried out to determine whether a clean room is essential to PSC manufacture. This study examines how organic dust particle contaminants (1-10 µm) impact screen-printed m-CPSCs. Unexpectedly, cells with contamination between layers showed no significant difference in PCE compared to pristine controls. Dust in pastes affected print quality more severely, negatively impacting the quality of subsequent layers and leading to inconsistencies in print quality, compounding problems further along in the manufacturing process if screens and pastes are not kept free from such contamination. These findings suggest that screen-printed solar cells can be produced outside of clean rooms if high cleanliness standards are maintained during storage and print runs. This outcome is significant for low-cost PSC printing, indicating that it may be possible to produce high performing modules in industrial setups without expensive clean room installation and management.