A review of organic solar cells: Historical perspective, recent development and concepts for improvement

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In recent developments, organic solar cells with power conversion efficiencies exceeding 10% have been fabricated. However, in order to compete with conventional inorganic photovoltaic cells in the solar energy market, the power conversion efficiency of the organic solar cell devices still has to improve by about a factor of 3-4. Therefore, in addition to understanding the mechanism of operation of these devices, research has been focusing on varying processing parameters, device architecture and selection of organic semiconducting materials. In this review, a brief history of organic photovoltaic cell devices, factors limiting stability and power conversion efficiency, fundamental parameters that have been reported to improve the general performance of the devices, and recent developments in organic solar cell devices are presented. These parameters include, among other things, device geometry, particle morphology of the metal oxide electron transport layer inserted between the photoactive layer and the top electrode, and the sequence of thermal annealing.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationOrganic Solar Cells
Subtitle of host publicationAdvances in Research and Applications
PublisherNova Science Publishers, Inc.
Pages91-111
Number of pages21
ISBN (Electronic)9781536124125
ISBN (Print)9781536124019
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bulk heterojunction
  • Organic solar cells
  • P3HT:PCBM
  • Photoactive layer
  • Power conversion efficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering

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