Fullerene-Based Heterojunctions for Non-Selective Absorption Transparent Solar Cells

Abstract

Transparent photovoltaic (TPV) devices have great potential to be applied as smart windows in construction and agriculture fields. TPVs with an average visible transmission (AVT) exceeding 50% are among the strong candidates to build lighting windows since the champion efficiency has already exceeded 10%. However, it is still a challenge in TPVs that semiconductors are generally expensive and transparency is difficult to further enhance, particularly for device AVT exceeding 70%. In this work, we develop a set of fullerene-based heterojunctions to harvest the light. By utilizing the low-cost fullerene as the light-absorbing material and combining it with the transparent electrode, the fabricated TPV device can achieve an AVT of 72.1% with a PCE exceeding 1%. Notably, the device with an AVT of 82% is also successfully demonstrated. This study provides an effective approach for building low-cost and efficient TPV devices.