Techno-economic assessment of titanium dioxide nanorod-based perovskite solar cells: From lab-scale to large-scale manufacturing.

• The large-scale production pathway of high-performance perovskite solar cell modules is developed. • Scale factors were developed for each cost component of perovskite solar cells. • Perovskite solar panels for residential home application were designed. • The levelized cost of electricity is from 11.4 to 14.8 ¢/kWh. • The minimum sustainable price is $0.53-$0.9/W, comparable to commercial photovoltaic technologies. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have shown remarkable progress in recent years. Different materials and structures have been developed to improve the photoconversion efficiency and operational stability of PSCs. However, the economic and technical impacts of materials and design choice on the large-scale deployment are not well addressed in the literature. In this research, a pathway for producing titanium dioxide (TiO 2) nanorod-based perovskite solar modules was established and their manufacturing cost was estimated through the development of data-intensive, bottom-up techno-economic models. Material, utilities, and equipment requirements from available laboratory data to a mass production annual capacity of up to 21 MW were estimated through the development of scale factors. The minimum sustainable price and levelized cost of electricity were calculated. The direct manufacturing cost of the reference PSC module was estimated at $80.23/m2 and $0.73/W with a production capacity of 3.5 MWp. These costs decline to $47.15/m2 and $0.43/W at 21 MW production capacity. Material costs dominate the overall costs, fluorine-doped tin oxide glass being the most expensive material. The perovskite solar cell panels, when installed in residential homes in Alberta, Canada, were calculated to have a competitive levelized cost of electricity ranging from 7 to 17 cents per kWh. However, the cost was found to be extremely sensitive to the module efficiency, lifetime, and the solar insolation at the location of installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]