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Energy Losses in Small‐Molecule Organic Photovoltaics
Author(s) -
Linderl Theresa,
Zechel Thomas,
Brendel Michael,
Moseguí González Daniel,
MüllerBuschbaum Peter,
Pflaum Jens,
Brütting Wolfgang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201700237
Subject(s) - organic solar cell , photovoltaics , materials science , photovoltaic system , commercialization , engineering physics , nanotechnology , crystalline silicon , transparency (behavior) , solar energy , silicon , thin film , optoelectronics , electrical engineering , computer science , business , engineering , computer security , marketing
After intense research and development organic solar cells have matured among the family of thin‐film photovoltaic technologies. On the laboratory scale they reach power conversion efficiencies in excess of 10%. Together with other attractive features, like transparency or the compatibility with low‐cost, large area processing, they open reasonable perspectives for their commercialization. However, in order to close the gap to established inorganic technologies, primarily crystalline silicon, the fundamental understanding of loss processes has to be improved. First and foremost, this concerns the energy loss between the optical gap for light absorption and the open‐circuit voltage of the cell. Here, the scientific background for the different mechanisms of energy losses in organic photovoltaic cells together with current approaches toward their reduction is presented.