The application of ferroelectric materials (i.e. solids that exhibitspontaneous electric polarisation) in solar cells has a long and controversialhistory. This includes the first observations of the anomalous photovoltaiceffect (APE) and the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPE). The recent successfulapplication of inorganic and hybrid perovskite structured materials (e.g.BiFeO3, CsSnI3, CH3NH3PbI3) in solar cells emphasises that polar semiconductorscan be used in conventional photovoltaic architectures. We review developmentsin this field, with a particular emphasis on the materials known to display theAPE/BPE (e.g. ZnS, CdTe, SbSI), and the theoretical explanation. Criticalanalysis is complemented with first-principles calculation of the underlyingelectronic structure. In addition to discussing the implications of aferroelectric absorber layer, and the solid state theory of polarisation (Berryphase analysis), design principles and opportunities for high-efficiencyferroelectric photovoltaics are presented.
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