A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Revive or reuse: Environmental and energy insights into mesoporous perovskite solar cells recycling
Authors: Jech, Šimon; Hadadian, Mahboubeh; Miettunen, Kati; Santasalo-Aarnio, Annukka
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Article number: 114315
Volume: 302
ISSN: 0927-0248
eISSN: 1879-3398
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2026.114315
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2026.114315
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/523240152
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
With growing interest in perovskite solar cells, identifying the optimal recycling strategy becomes important. Strategies focusing on revival or layer-reuse were introduced. Yet their energy footprints and environmental impacts should be understood. Thus, revival – the highest level of recycling – and layer-reuse of carbon-based mesoporous perovskite solar cells were modelled alongside the revival of NiO- and Au-NiO-based cells. Subsequent analysis focused on energy return on energy investment combined with life cycle assessment investigating systems from cradle to end of second-life (second-life after recycling). The results showed that revival had higher return of energy (43) while having lower impacts (as low as 8 g CO2-eq./kWh) compared to reuse of ZrO2 electrode (as low as 8.8 g CO2-eq./kWh). However, the degradation and lifetime of second-life devices might render layer-reuse more advantageous, highlighting the small nuances between different recycling levels. Additionally, the environmental impacts of nickel-based cells were significantly higher compared to carbon-based cells. Based on these findings future perovskite solar cell research could target effective revival or reuse.
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Funding information in the publication:
The work was funded by Research Council of Finland project ECOSOL (numbers 347275 and 347276). SJ thanks the Aalto University School of Engineering for supporting this research. MH also thanks PROFI7/SUSMAT funded by Research Council of Finland.