Recent progress and future aspects of organic solar cells

Abstract

This article aims to review the recent progress and future aspects of organic solar cells (OSCs). Different device designs proposed for efficient light harvesting and their advancements have been discussed. We have discussed various parameters limiting their efficiency and their possible solutions. Special attention has been paid to understand the device physics and its fundamental facets. Open circuit voltage (Voc) is an important parameter in the determination of their efficiency, but the picture behind the real origin of Voc is not very much clear; therefore, this issue has been discussed in detail. Short lifetime is another important issue; therefore, recent progress in stability and related issues has also been discussed. The progress in roll to roll (R2R) processing and demonstration for large‐area OSCs has been paid particular attention. The areas, where further advances will help in the commercial realization of this technology, have also been discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Theoretical estimation of the rate of photoinduced charge transfer reactions in triphenylamine C60 donor–acceptor conjugate

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The interest in fullerene DSSCs is mainly due to the fact that they are a low-cost replacement for silicon-based solar cells and they are associated to profitable manufacturing and negligible toxicity. [9][10][11][12][13][14] The reference system for fullerene DSSCs is the blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). It has been extensively studied experimentally and theoretically.…”

Enhancing the short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells with graphene quantum dots derived from double-walled carbon nanotubes

“…20 When the PCBM content is low (0.5 weight ratio to P3HT), the matrix is fairly homogeneous. 21 The J sc and PCE are significantly enhanced with the increase of the PCBM ratio to 0.6 due to the emergence of a phase separation, which result in enhanced charge carrier transport and a reduction in bimolecular charge recombination. 22 However, with a further increase of the PCBM ratio (40.6), the decreasing optical density of the film due to the low absorption cross section of PCBM compared to P3HT eventually leads to a drop in the J sc and PCE.…”

Structure–property relationships of oligothiophene–isoindigo polymers for efficient bulk-heterojunction solar cells

“…[9][10][11] To further enhance the PV performance of PSCs, novel low band gap polymers with an optimized driving force need to be developed. 13,14 However, there is a lack of systematic studies that provide detailed synthesis guidelines for ne-tuning this driving force, especially in a small range of 0-0.1 eV.…”