Tayebeh Ameri

Organic tandem solar cells: A review

In this article some brief theoretical considerations addressing the potential of single and tandem solar cells, the main experimental achievements reported in the literature so far and finally some design rules for efficient material combinations in bulk-heterojunction organic tandem solar cells are presented.

Organic ternary solar cells: a review.

Recently, researchers have paid a great deal of attention to the research and development of organic solar cells, leading to a breakthrough of over 10% power conversion efficiency. Though impressive, further development is required to ensure a bright industrial future for organic photovoltaics. Relatively narrow spectral overlap of organic polymer absorption bands within the solar spectrum is one of the major limitations of organic solar cells. Among different strategies that are in progress to tackle this restriction, the novel concept of ternary organic solar cells is a promising candidate to extend the absorption spectra of large bandgap polymers to the near IR region and to enhance light harvesting in single bulk-heterojunction solar cells. In this contribution, we review the recent developments in organic ternary solar cell research based on various types of sensitizers. In addition, the aspects of miscibility, morphology complexity, charge transfer dynamics as well as carrier transport in ternary organic composites are addressed.

Highly efficient organic tandem solar cells: a follow up review

Multi-junction solar cell configurations, where two or further sub-cells with complementary absorption are stacked and connected in series or parallel, offer an exciting approach to tackle the single junction limitations of organic solar cells and further improve their power conversion efficiency. In this article we aim to follow up our previous work and review the most important and novel developments that have been recently reported on organic tandem solar cells. In addition, some brief theoretical considerations addressing the potential of single and tandem solar cells, the working principles of the intermediate layer, the importance and benefits of optical simulations and finally the intricacies of a precise performance measurement of bulk-heterojunction organic tandem solar cells based on complementary absorber materials are presented.

Scalable, ambient atmosphere roll-to-roll manufacture of encapsulated large area, flexible organic tandem solar cell modules

Inline printing and coating methods have been demonstrated to enable a high technical yield of fully roll-to-roll processed polymer tandem solar cell modules. We demonstrate generality by employing different material sets and also describe how the ink systems must be carefully co-developed in order to reach the ambitious objective of a fully printed and coated 14-layer flexible tandem solar cell stack. The roll-to-roll methodologies involved are flexographic printing, rotary screen printing, slot-die coating, X-ray scattering, electrical testing and UV-lamination. Their combination enables the manufacture of completely functional devices in exceptionally high yields. Critical to the ink and process development is a carefully chosen technology transfer to industry method where first a roll coater is employed enabling contactless stack build up, followed by a small roll-to-roll coater fitted to an X-ray machine enabling in situ studies of wet ink deposition and drying mechanisms, ultimately elucidating how a robust inline processed recombination layer is key to a high technical yield. Finally, the transfer to full roll-to-roll processing is demonstrated.

High shunt resistance in polymer solar cells comprising a MoO3 hole extraction layer processed from nanoparticle suspension

In this report, we present solution processed molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) layers incorporated as hole extraction layer (HEL) in polymer solar cells (PSCs) and demonstrate the replacement of the commonly employed poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):(polystyrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS). MoO3 is known to have excellent electronic properties and to yield more stable devices compared to PEDOT:PSS. We demonstrate fully functional solar cells with up to 65 nm thick MoO3 HEL deposited from a nanoparticle suspension at low temperatures. The PSCs with an active layer comprising a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester and a MoO3 HEL show comparable performance to reference devices with a PEDOT:PSS HEL. The best cells with MoO3 reach a fill factor of 66.7% and power conversion efficiency of 2.92%. Moreover, MoO3 containing solar cells exhibit an excellent shunt behavior with a parallel resistance of above 100 kΩ cm2.

Design of efficient organic tandem cells: On the interplay between molecular absorption and layer sequence

We have carried out detailed optical simulations of tandem solar cells based on the following organic semiconductors: poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), poly[2,6-(4,4-bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H- cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophene)-alt-4,7-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT), 1-(3- methoxycarbonyl) propyl-1-phenyl[6,6] C61 (PC60BM), and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl) propyl-1- phenyl[6,6] C71 (PC70BM). We demonstrate that out of the many possible combinations of the component materials, one specific combination emerges as the best to reduce the spectral overlap of the two bulk heterojunction blends and thereby to ensure an optimized short-circuit current density (Jsc). Furthermore, the calculations allow us to predict the maximum Jsc achievable in tandem cells based on P3HT and PCPDTBT. Finally, we show that the efficient tandem cell realized and described recently by Kim et al. [Science 317, 222 (2007)] ensures balanced absorption in the top and bottoms cells.

Realization, characterization, and optical modeling of inverted bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells

Inverted bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) using solution-processed layers possess significant advantages compared to the usual noninverted devices. To investigate the full potential of this type of OSC, we have carried out some optical modeling by rigorous coupled wave analysis. The influence of the thickness of several different layers in the device has been quantified, as well as the maximum possible number of photons absorbed in the poly(3-hexyltiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester active layer for both conventional and inverted structures. It appears that the thickness of the hole injecting layer placed in front of the metallic mirror can influence the electromagnetic field distribution in the OSC, but no additional beneficial optical spacer effect is observed. The thickness of the electron injecting layer deposited on the semitransparent electrode also has a negligible influence on the photons absorbed in the active layer for the inverted structure.

Cost analysis of roll-to-roll fabricated ITO free single and tandem organic solar modules based on data from manufacture

We present a cost analysis based on state of the art printing and coating processes to fully encapsulated, flexible ITO- and vacuum-free polymer solar cell modules. Manufacturing data for both single junctions and tandem junctions are presented and analyzed. Within this calculation the most expensive layers and processing steps are identified. Based on large roll-to-roll coating experiments the exact material consumptions were determined. In addition to the data for the pilot scale experiment presented here, projections to medium and large scale scenarios serve as a guide to achieve cost targets of 5 €ct per Wp in a detailed material and cost analysis. These scenarios include the replacement of cost intensive layers, as well as process optimization steps. Furthermore, the cost structures for single and tandem devices are listed in detail and discussed. In an optimized model the material costs drop below 10 € per m2 which proves that OPV is a competitive alternative to established power generation technologies.

IR sensitization of an indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) in ternary organic solar cells

This article presents a smart strategy to successfully tackle two main limitations of organic solar cells (OSCs) in one step: the narrow absorption window of polymers as well as the Voc limitation related to the mono-PCBM. We demonstrate the high OSC performance of >5% in the combination of a fullerene multiadduct, i.e. indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) with a low bandgap polymer employing the concept of ternary OSCs. Solar cells achieving a fill factor (FF) of >60% along with high quantum efficiency in the near IR region are demonstrated for ternary composites consisting of P3HT, the fullerene-bisindene adduct of ICBA and a low bandgap copolymer sensitizer. Using P3HT as an efficient transport matrix with non-Langevin recombination dynamics allowed us to limit and overcome the otherwise dominant recombination losses of the indene-C60 bisadduct – low bandgap copolymer blends. The success of this strategy resulted in a relative efficiency improvement of over 25%.

High-performance ternary organic solar cells with thick active layer exceeding 11% efficiency

We present a novel ternary organic solar cell with an uncommonly thick active layer (∼300 nm), featuring thickness invariant charge carrier recombination and delivering 11% power conversion efficiency (PCE). A ternary blend was used to demonstrate photovoltaic modules of high technological relevance both on glass and flexible substrates, yielding 8.2% and 6.8% PCE, respectively.