Performance Evaluations of Indoor PV Devices under Various Light Illuminations

Abstract

The power conversion efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) technologies strongly depends on incoming light spectrum and intensity. This study comparatively evaluated organic photovoltaics (OPV), dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), perovskite solar cells (PSC), amorphous silicon (a-Si) and crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells under four representative light sources, i.e. AM 1.5 spectrum, CIE Illuminant A, white LED and fluorescent lighting (FL), over a wide range of indoor illumination levels. In addition to electrical characterization, the optical properties of the light sources were analysed and the device spectral response was assessed. The results indicate that PV behaviour is strongly governed by the spectral distribution of the light source and the intrinsic optoelectronic properties of each device. PSC exhibits the highest overall performance due to its broad visible absorption and efficient charge transport. OPV maintains nearly constant fill factor and delivers relatively uniform efficiencies under all four spectra, highlighting their robustness under low-light conditions. DSSC shows excellent spectral compatibility with FL, leading to stable operation at moderate and high illumination levels. The a-Si device demonstrates moderate yet stable performance across all spectra, indicating balanced spectral tolerance. In contrast, c-Si displays pronounced spectral sensitivity, performing well under AM 1.5 and CIE Illuminant A but showing significant efficiency losses under LED and FL due to spectral mismatch at low photon flux. This study provides a comprehensive comparison of PV technologies under diverse illumination conditions and highlights the importance of combined optical and electrical characterization for reliable indoor PV performance evaluation.