The photon absorber and interconnecting layers in multijunction organic solar cell

Organic photovoltaic devices have long been considered as an important alternative for coal-based energy technologies due to their low-cost, lightweight and flexible nature. However, the power conversion efficiencies of such cells are limited by thermalization and transmission losses, which can be o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar energy 2020-05, Vol.201, p.28-44
Main Authors: Choudhury, Brishty Deb, Ibarra, Bernabe, Cesano, Federico, Mao, Yuanbing, Huda, Muhammad N., Chowdhury, Aminur Rashid, Olivares, Carolina, Jasim Uddin, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorber materials
Absorbers
Alternative energy sources
Energy conversion efficiency
Energy technology
Fullerenes
Interconnecting layer
Organic photovoltaics
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaics
Power conversion efficiency
Solar cells
Solar energy
Tandem configuration
Tandem solar cell
Thermalization (energy absorption)
Transmission loss
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Organic photovoltaic devices have long been considered as an important alternative for coal-based energy technologies due to their low-cost, lightweight and flexible nature. However, the power conversion efficiencies of such cells are limited by thermalization and transmission losses, which can be overcome by stacking multiple cells in a tandem configuration. This approach allows utilization of the wider spectrum of solar light, helping in attaining the theoretical limits for single cell efficiency (~30%). However, the performance of such tandem organic solar cells depends largely on several factors, including the proper design of absorber, sub-cells and interconnecting layer materials. In this review, recent studies on the development of different fullerene, non-fullerene, small molecule acceptor based active layers have been reported. Also, some recent works in the field of the inorganic-organic hybrid tandem cells have been briefly discussed. The purpose of this review is manifold: to provide the readers with a comprehensive overview of past, current research, recent developments, and open problems of tandem organic solar cells.
ISSN:0038-092X
1471-1257
DOI:10.1016/j.solener.2020.02.035