A model for the J-V characteristics of P3HT:PCBM solar cells

Kumar, Pankaj; Jain, S.C.; Kumar, Vikram; Chand, Suresh; Tandon, R. P.

doi:10.1063/1.3129320

Cited by 80 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…It has been shown that this approximation yields satisfactory results for dark current calculations. 17 In these cells, the shunt may be formed by either of the active materials, which create the percolating path close to the area of local nonuniformity. We simulate this shunt using a M-͑P3HT͒-M structure ͓second schematic in Fig.…”

Section: Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All simulations were performed using Taurus Medici™ TCAD software. Detailed materials parameters including banddiscontinuity, band-tail states, defect levels, capture crosssections, mobilities, and their temperature activations, for a-Si:H, 33 CIGS, 31 and OPV materials 17 were taken from literature. We then used the same materials parameters for simulating the shunt current ͑I sh ͒ separately, using the model developed in this paper.…”

Section: B Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A modeling and simulation approach similar to that used for modeling p-n diodes has, therefore, been applied for simulating the exponential diode current ͑I d ͒ in all three PV technologies considered. 17,[28][29][30][31][32] We apply self-consistent numerical solutions of Poisson and continuity equations for simulating the ideal solar cell structures ͑i.e., without the parasitic shunt current͒ of the three thin-film cell types. All simulations were performed using Taurus Medici™ TCAD software.…”

Section: B Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of the electrical characteristics, shunt currents have been typically considered to be Ohmic in nature. [13][14][15][16][17] In the equivalent circuit picture, this is typically represented by a parallel resistance ͓Fig. 1͑b͔͒.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Universality of non-Ohmic shunt leakage in thin-film solar cells

Dongaonkar

Servaites

Ford

et al. 2010

Journal of Applied Physics

190

135

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This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact epubs@purdue.edu for additional information. We compare the dark current-voltage ͑IV͒ characteristics of three different thin-film solar cell types: hydrogenated amorphous silicon ͑a-Si:H͒ p-i-n cells, organic bulk heterojunction ͑BHJ͒ cells, and Cu͑In, Ga͒Se 2 ͑CIGS͒ cells. All three device types exhibit a significant shunt leakage current at low forward bias ͑V Ͻ ϳ 0.4͒ and reverse bias, which cannot be explained by the classical solar cell diode model. This parasitic shunt current exhibits non-Ohmic behavior, as opposed to the traditional constant shunt resistance model for photovoltaics. We show here that this shunt leakage ͑I sh ͒, across all three solar cell types considered, is characterized by the following common phenomenological features: ͑a͒ voltage symmetry about V =0, ͑b͒ nonlinear ͑power law͒ voltage dependence, and ͑c͒ extremely weak temperature dependence. Based on this analysis, we provide a simple method of subtracting this shunt current component from the measured data and discuss its implications on dark IV parameter extraction. We propose a space charge limited ͑SCL͒ current model for capturing all these features of the shunt leakage in a consistent framework and discuss possible physical origin of the parasitic paths responsible for this shunt current mechanism.

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Section: Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Universality of non-Ohmic shunt leakage in thin-film solar cells

Dongaonkar

Servaites

Ford

et al. 2010

Journal of Applied Physics

190

135

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“…Step v (K J − V AC curves of a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell based on the blend of poly(3-hexylethiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl [6,6] C 61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) [56] and depicted with gray circles in Fig. 5.…”

Section: Parameter Extraction and Verification -Darknessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary condition model for the simulation of organic solar cells

López-Varo

Jiménez-Tejada

Marinov

et al. 2017

Organic Electronics

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Organic solar cells (OSCs) are promising photovoltaic devices to convert solar energy into electrical energy. Their many advantages such as lightweight, flexibility and low manufacturing costs are intrinsic to the organic/polymeric technology. However, because the performance of OSCs is still not competitive with inorganic solar cells, there is urgent need to improve the device performance using better designs, technologies and models. In this work, we focus on the developing an accurate physics-based model that relates the charge carrier density at the metal-organic boundaries with the current density in OSCs using our previous studies on singlecarrier and bipolar diodes. The model for the boundary condition of the charge carrier density at the interfaces of OSCs follows a power-law function with the current density, both in dark and under illumination, and simulated current-voltage characteristics are verified with experimental results. The numerical simulations of the current-voltage characteristics of OSCs consider wellestablished models for the main physical and optical processes that take place in the device: light absorption and generation of excitons, dissociation of excitons into free charge carriers, charge transport, recombination and injection-extraction of free carriers.Our analysis provides important insights on the influence of the metal-organic interfaces on the overall performance of OSCs. The model is also used to explain the anomalous S-shape current-voltage curves found in some experimental data.

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Evaluation of Built‐In Potential and Loss Mechanisms at Contacts in Organic Solar Cells: Device Model Parameterization, Validation, and Prediction

Liu

Png

Tan

et al. 2013

Advanced Energy Materials

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The power conversion effi ciency (PCE) of solar cells or photovoltaic cells is given by the product of their short-circuit photocurrent density J sc , fi ll factor (FF) and open-circuit voltage V oc . For organic solar cells, in which the photoactive layer (PAL) is an organic semiconductor (OSC) comprising intimatelymixed donor (D) and acceptor (A) phases, these performance parameters depend on a complex interplay of several processes, some more strongly related to materials and processing while others to cell design. [ 1 ] In brief, the overall effi ciency of the solar-to-electrical energy conversion chain depends on the following effi ciencies. The cell absorption effi ciency for the incident solar photons is determined primarily by the PAL but infl uenced by optical interference effects. The photocarrier generation effi ciency depends on the fraction of excitons that can dissociate to charge-separated pairs through processes that are still under debate, although this is known to be a property of the electronic structure and morphology of the DA interface. Then the collection effi ciency is determined by internal (non-geminate) recombination losses. The maximum electrochemical potential difference available from the carriers depends on electronic structure and other effects. The current-voltage ( JV ) characteristic under solar irradiation refl ects the outcome of all of these processes, which are heavily coupled. [2][3][4] Nevertheless signifi cant advances have occurred in some aspects, such as the correlation of cell properties with PAL and the DA morphology. [ 5 ] The maximum V oc available has been suggested to vary linearly with the energy gap between the highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) band edge of D and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) band edge of A, subjected to a loss of a few tenths of an eV, often thought to be 0.3 eV. [ 6,7 ] However a number of electrical parameters of the cells are not known accurately, including the relevant electronic energies, and so it is not possible to be certain about the magnitude of this offset. Recent literature for example has tended to emphasize the correlation of V oc with disparate sources of losses, including binding energy of the charge-transfer exciton, [ 8 ] internal recombination, [ 9 ] or sub-gap absorption through a quasi-equilibrium detailed balance. [ 10 ] Nevertheless the V bi is a more fundamental parameter of the cell [11][12][13] and hence a natural starting point to understand the factors that limit V oc in high-performance organic solar cells. However the V bi of even prototypical P3HT:PCBM cells has not been directly established, but estimated between 0.6 and 0.9 V. [ 14 ] Because of strong para meter coupling, this hampers Here, using crosslinked P3HT network:PCBM cells with predefi ned ultrafi ne donor-acceptor morphology and very high internal quantum effi ciencies, the built-in potential V bi is measured to decouple and reliably extract other key parameters of the cells. Using the refi ned device parameters, the ge...

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A model for the J-V characteristics of P3HT:PCBM solar cells

Cited by 80 publications

References 25 publications

Universality of non-Ohmic shunt leakage in thin-film solar cells

Universality of non-Ohmic shunt leakage in thin-film solar cells

Boundary condition model for the simulation of organic solar cells

Evaluation of Built‐In Potential and Loss Mechanisms at Contacts in Organic Solar Cells: Device Model Parameterization, Validation, and Prediction

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