5,827
Views
150
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
REVIEW ARTICLE

Organic Solar Cells: A Review of Materials, Limitations, and Possibilities for Improvement

, , , &
Pages 427-442 | Published online: 25 Jul 2013
 

Abstract

Significant attention has been given during the last few years to overcome technological and material barriers in order to develop organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) with comparable cost efficiency similar to the inorganic photovoltaics (PVs) and to make them commercially viable. To take advantage of the low cost for such devices, major improvements are necessary which include: an efficiency of around 10%, high stability from degradation under real-world conditions, novel optically active materials, and development of novel fabrication approaches. In order to meet such stringent requirements, the research and development in OPVs need to improve upon the short diffusion length of excitons, which is one of the factors that are responsible for their low power conversion efficiency. This review discusses some of the most significant technological developments that were presented in the literature and helped improve photovoltaic performance, such as tandem architectures, plasmonics, and use of graphitic nanostructural materials, among others.

Tandem organic solar cells with embedded plasmonics are a promising approach to further increase the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells, by harvesting complementary spectral regions with high quantum efficiencies. Polymeric nanocomposites incorporating graphitic nanostructures were extensively investigated for the next generation of efficient and low-cost solar cells, since such nanomaterials show excellent electrical and mechanical properties, excellent carrier transport capabilities, and provide an efficient pathway to the dissociated charge carriers.

Acknowledgment

The financial support from the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (Grant # 08-CAT-03), and the Department of Energy (DE-FG36-06GO86072) and National Science Foundation (NSF/EPS-1003970) is greatly appreciated. The editorial assistance of Marinelle Ringer is also acknowledged.

Notes

a PCBTTE is [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyricacid2-(2′,2″:5″,2″′-terthiophene-5′-yl)ethylester.

b F4-ZnPc:C60 is fluorinated ZnPc.

c DCV6 T is α,ω-bis-(dicyanovinyl-sexithiophene)-Bu(1,2,5,6).

d Hybrid in this context is a cell comprised of planner and bulk architectures.

e IC60BA is indene-C60 bisadduct.

f PBDTT-DPP is poly{2,6′-4,8-di(5-ethylhexylthienyl)benzo[1,2-b;3,4-b]dithiophene-alt-5-dibutyloctyl-3,6-bis(5-bromothiophen-2-yl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione}.

Present address for E. Dervishi: Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Materials Physics and Application Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 438.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.