Combined Effects of Buffer Layers and Electrode Contacts on the Performance of Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of buffer layer and electrode contact on various structures of an organic solar cell (OSC), including the effect of the thickness of the active layer and the band gap, simultaneously. This study analyzes different structures of OSCs based on materials that are commonly used for organic cells improvement. The organic solar cell with the blend poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT):phenyl-C 61 -butyric-acid-methyl ester (PCBM) has been used for the proposed model, yielding the following results: power conversion efficiency (PCE)\u2009=\u20094.20%, open circuit voltage ( V oc )\u2009=\u20090.60\xa0V, short circuit current density ( J sc )\u2009=\u200910.86\xa0mA/cm 2 , fill factor\u2009=\u200964.68%. The effect of changing the electrode contact has given PCE from 1.18% to 11.54%, whereas PCE of the effect of changing the buffer layer was from 1.43% to 13.17%. The characteristics of the current density–voltage (J–V) for all structures were comparatively analyzed, and the proposed model has been approved by comparing the results achieved with experimental data of real devices. This analysis helps to adjust the appropriate structures with the optimizing parameters for enhancing the performance of OSCs.