Agrivoltaics, integrating photovoltaic systems with crop cultivation, demands semitransparent solar modules to mitigate soil shadowing. Perovskite Solar Cells (PSC) offer competitive efficiency, low fabrication costs, and high solar transmittance, making them suitable for agrivoltaic applications. However, the impact of PSC light filtering on plant growth and transcriptomics remains underexplored. This study investigates the viability and agronomic implications of the growth of radicchio seedlings (Cichorium intybus var. latifolium) in laboratory-scale greenhouses integrating Perovskites-coated rooftops. Eu-enriched CsPbI₃ layers are chosen to provide semi-transparency and phase stability while radicchio has limited size and grows in pots. Despite the reduced light exposure, radicchio seedlings exhibit faster growth and larger leaves than in the reference, benefiting from specific spectral filtering. RNA-sequencing reveals differential gene expression patterns reflecting adaptive responses to environmental changes. Simulations of full PSC integration demonstrate a positive energy balance in greenhouses to cover annual energy needs for lighting, irrigation, and air conditioning.

CsPbI₃ perovskites are attracting huge interest for their inorganic structure and thanks to a bandgap of 1.69–1.78 eV that makes them suitable for application in tandem solar cells with silicon. Herein, all‐inorganic hole‐transporting‐layer (HTL)‐free carbon‐based CsPbI₃ perovskite solar cells (mC‐PSCs) are fabricated, for the first time, by infiltrating CsPbI₃ solutions enriched with precursors of Europium into triple mesoscopic structures with mesoporous (mp) materials (mp‐TiO₂/mp‐ZrO₂/mp‐Carbon). The use of Europium is beneficial to mitigate lattice defect formation during the reaction. Drop casting of the solution is done in air and the black γ‐phase formation is promoted under dynamic nitrogen flow during high‐temperature annealing (350 °C), which is preferred to low‐temperature treatments to maximize perovskite phase stability. The preparation protocol entrusts the devices with the best power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 9.2% and 5.2% using EuI₂ and EuCl₃, respectively. Recorded PCE is considerably lower (<2%) in the reference devices prepared without Europium. In addition, the Eu‐based devices are recycled to reconvert the photo‐inactive yellow δ‐phase into the photo‐active black γ‐phase with the devices losing only ≈10% of the efficiency of the original device. Thus, it is demonstrated that mC‐PSCs recycling is feasible by exploiting the special feature of the high‐temperature black γ‐phase‐reversibility.

Perovskite solar cells have become a popular alternative to traditional silicon solar cells due to their potential to provide high-efficiency, low-cost, and lightweight solar energy harvesting solutions. However, the multilayer architecture of perovskite solar cells demands careful investigation of the interaction and interfacing between the various layers, as they play a crucial role in determining the overall performance of the cell. In this context, the present work aims at analyzing the coupling between a spongy transparent electron-transporting layer (ETL) and perovskite in a formulation CsPbI${}_3$:EuI${}_2$. The ETL used in this work is a transparent mesoporous TiO${}_2$ layer called “gig-lox” (grazing incidence angle geometry–local oxidation), which has been optimized to boost the interfacing with the perovskite for achieving a highly interconnected blend of materials. The gig-lox TiO${}_2$ ETL shows a high surface wettability with respect to the perovskite solution, especially after pre-annealing at 500 ${}^{°}$C, and this enables the perovskite material to deeply infiltrate throughout it. The surface wettability of the gig-lox TiO${}_2$ has been estimated by contact angle measurements, while the deep infiltration of the perovskite material has been demonstrated through X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Thanks to the achieved deep infiltration, the photo-generated charge injection from the perovskite into the mesoporous oxide is enhanced with respect to the use of a planar compact oxide, as shown by the photoluminescence measurements. The mainstay of the approach resides in the ETL that is deposited by a solvent-free sputtering method and is up-scalable for high industrial throughput.

In this study, we propose a novel approach where in an innovative porous grazing incidence atomic flux coupled with local oxidation (gig-lox) TiO₂ electron transport layer (ETL), deposited by sputtering, is integrated with a fully inorganic CsPbI₃:EuI₂ perovskite. This combination is used as a photoactive layer in semitransparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSC). The solvent-free, scalable porous oxide sponge-like in structure, is produced via a grazing-incidence Ti flux that undergoes localized progressive oxidation. The sponge offers ≈50% volume porosity that is available for perovskite infiltration. The result of the oxide-perovskite integration is a double-layer struc made of a perovskite-filled sponge covered by a cap of pure perovskite. The material has unique optical properties and structure as attested by spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray diffraction analyses. The double-layer structure exhibits semitransparency, and its reduced photoluminescence (PL) intensity relative to that of a single perovskite layer indicates efficient charge carrier injection into the porous TiO₂. In perspective, the layer can be used in PSC as demonstrated by simulations.