Round robin performance testing of organic photovoltaic devices

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of poor intercomparability of measurements of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices among different laboratories. We present a round robin performance testing of novel OPV devices among 16 laboratories, organized within the framework of European Research Infrastructure Project (SOPHIA) and European Energy Research Alliance (EERA). Three types of OPVs with different structures, dimensions and encapsulations are studied and compared with reference Si solar cells certified by accredited laboratories. The agreement of the measurements of these among different laboratories is analyzed by focusing on testing procedures, testing equipment and sample designs. A number of deviations and pitfalls are revealed and based on the analyses, a set of recommendations are suggested for improving the agreement among the measurements of such OPV technologies

Worldwide outdoor round robin study of organic photovoltaic devices and modules

“…Obviously, using the real sun helps avoid costly equipment with aforementioned limitations. The results presented in this manuscript suggest that the accuracy of outdoor testing is not inferior to earlier reported indoor tests [14] and even more accurate in some cases. The spread is confined within approximately 5 % if considering only the tests under reasonable weather conditions (clear sky and above 0 o C air temperature) and if a reference Si module is provided as a reference.…”

“…A round robin is a useful tool that allows reaching consensus on best practices for both designing device architectures, utilizing the most suitable test equipment, and creating common test protocols. Within the OPV field, a number of different round robin studies have already been presented for both initial power output [12][13][14] and lifetime [15][16][17][18] measurements, which addressed the issue of large spread of data among different laboratories. While many lessons have been learned this article presents a new characterization method for photovoltaic devices that involves an innovative approach of "suitcase samples".…”

Progress in Understanding Degradation Mechanisms and Improving Stability in Organic Photovoltaics

“…The required light source and spectra, temperature control, atmospheric conditions, electrical bias and monitoring are listed for each level. Round‐robin tests among different labs demonstrate that strict reproducibility among labs is difficult . The ISOS protocol was recently reviewed and compared to other thin film solar testing protocol in greater detail …”

Matrix Organization and Merit Factor Evaluation as a Method to Address the Challenge of Finding a Polymer Material for Roll Coated Polymer Solar Cells

“…First of all, interlaboratory measures of efficiency are not necessarily comparable, which has led to a practice of sending the hero devices to be certified at certain trusted laboratories. The same principle has been applied in so‐called round robin studies, where the same devices were tested at several laboratories with considerable variation as a result. Another important issue is that an overwhelming majority (95%) of the devices is made with glass substrates, often using indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) as the transparent electrode and with a diminutive active area.…”