Study of Perovskite Solar Cells under High-Fluence, Low-Energy Proton Radiation

Perovskite photovoltaics are of interest for power generation in space applications owing to their low mass, ease of fabrication, and tolerance to radiation. Here, we study the performance of perovskite solar cells irradiated by low-energy (30 and 75 keV) protons, with fluences ranging from 4.3E13 cm-2 to 1.7E14 cm-2. These fluences are relatively high, intended to study the viability of unshielded perovskite solar cells for long-duration missions to harsh radiation environments. We find that the cells are considerably degraded at these fluences, suggesting that some amount of radiation shielding may be necessary for such missions. The degradation varies considerably with cell architecture.