Perovskite Solar Cell Optical Absorption Calculator
Layer-Resolved Absorption in a Solar Cell
This stack tracks where optical power is absorbed in a perovskite photovoltaic device: useful absorption in the MAPbI3 layer versus parasitic absorption in ITO, transport layers, and the Au electrode.
Why This Design Works
For a solar cell, total absorption is not enough because only photons absorbed inside the active layer can generate carriers. Layer-resolved absorption separates useful MAPbI3 absorption from parasitic loss in the transparent electrode, transport layers, and metal contact. By Poynting's theorem, each layer's absorptance equals the optical-flux drop through that layer, and the field profile shows where the power is deposited.
Per-layer absorptance is the drop in time-averaged Poynting flux across layer \(j\), normalized to the incident flux in air. The sum over all absorbing coherent layers must match energy conservation after the front glass-interface reflection is included; the gap between \(A_{\mathrm{total}}\) and \(A_{\mathrm{pvk}}\) is parasitic optical loss.