This review provides an overview of factors affecting film morphology and how together with device architecture they impact perovskite cell performance.

A lead-free low bandgap organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite, formamidinium tin iodide, is utilized as a light absorbing layer in photovoltaics. This material has a bandgap of 1.41 eV which allows light harvesting from the near infrared region, making high photocurrents achievable. A power conversion efficiency of 2.10% was accomplished upon incorporating SnF₂.

Polymers based upon 2,7-disubstituted carbazole have recently become of great interest as electron-donating materials in organic photovoltaic devices. In this tutorial review the synthesis of such polymers and their relative performances in such devices are surveyed. In particular structure–property relationships are investigated and the potential for the rational design of materials for high efficiency solar cells is discussed. In the case of the 2,7-carbazole homopolymer it has been found that electron acceptors other than fullerenes produce higher energy conversion efficiencies. To get around possible problems with the build-up of charge density at the 3- and 6-positions and to improve the solar light harvesting ability of the polymers by reducing the bandgap, ladder- and step-ladder type 2,7-carbazole polymers have been synthesised. The fully ladderised polymers gave very poor results in devices, but efficiencies of over 1% have been obtained from a step-ladder polymer with a diindenocarbazole monomer unit. Donor–acceptor copolymers containing 2,7-carbazole donors and various electron-accepting comonomer units have been prepared. An efficiency of 6% has been reported from a device using such a copolymer and by suitable choice of the acceptor comonomer, polymers can be designed with potential theoretical power conversion efficiencies of 10%. While such efficiencies remain to be obtained, the results to date certainly suggest that carbazole-based polymers and copolymers are among the most promising materials yet proposed for obtaining high efficiency organic solar cells.