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Organic Solar Cells: An Overview Focusing on Active Layer Morphology

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Abstract

Solar cells constructed of organic materials are becoming increasingly efficient due to the discovery of the bulk heterojunction concept. This review provides an overview of organic solar cells. Topics covered include: a brief history of organic solar cell development; device construction, definitions, and characteristics; and heterojunction morphology and its relation to device efficiency in conjugated polymer/fullerene systems. The aim of this article is to show that researchers are developing a better understanding of how material structure relates to function and that they are applying this knowledge to build more efficient light-harvesting devices.

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Abbreviations

AFM:

atomic force microscopy

C60 :

fullerene

FF:

fill factor

HOMO:

highest occupied molecular orbital

I sc :

short circuit voltage

IPCE:

incident photon to current efficiency

ITO:

indium tin oxide

KFM:

Kelvin force microscopy

LUMO:

lowest unoccupied molecular orbital

MDMO-PPV:

poly[2-methoxy-5-(3′7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene]

MEH-PPV:

poly[(2-methoxy-5-((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)-1,4-phenylene)vinylene]

MPP:

maximum power point

OSC:

organic solar cell

P3HT:

poly(3-hexylthiophene)

P3OT:

poly(3-octylthiophene)

Pc:

phthalocyanine

PCBM:

(6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric-acid methyl ester

PCE:

power conversion efficiency

PEDOT–PSS:

poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)–poly(styrenesulfonate)

QE:

quantum efficiency

SEM:

scanning electron microscopy

TEM:

transmission electron microscopy

V oc :

open circuit voltage

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Travis L. Benanti & D. Venkataraman

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  1. Travis L. Benanti
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  2. D. Venkataraman
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Correspondence to D. Venkataraman.

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Benanti, T.L., Venkataraman, D. Organic Solar Cells: An Overview Focusing on Active Layer Morphology. Photosynth Res 87, 73–81 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-005-6397-9

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