Abstract
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted strong attention in recent years, due to the advantages of flexibility, thinness, and simple manufacturing process. In this chapter, we overview the basics of OSCs. The basics of organic semiconductors are first described. We then provide details of the four steps in the operation principles of OSCs, including exciton generation, exciton diffusion, exciton dissociation, and charge collection. The basic architecture of OSC and the methods of characterization of OSCs are also explained. This chapter provides the fundamentals of OSCs to facilitate understanding of more advanced topics.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akamatu H, Inokuchi H, Matsunaga Y (1954) Electrical conductivity of the perylene bromine complex. Nature 173(4395):168–169
Tang C (1987) Organic electroluminescent diodes. Appl Phys Lett 51(12):913
Bredas JL, Calbert JP, da Silva Filho DA, Cornil J (2002) Organic semiconductors: a theoretical characterization of the basic parameters governing charge transport. Proc Nat Acad Sci 99(9):5804–5809
Kymissis I (2009) The physics of organic semiconductors. In: Organic Field Effect Transistors. Integrated Circuits and Systems, Springer, US, pp 1-12
Hu D, Yu J, Padmanaban G, Ramakrishnan S, Barbara PF (2002) Spatial confinement of exciton transfer and the role of conformational order in organic nanoparticles. Nano Lett 2(10):1121–1124
Sundar VC, Zaumseil J, Podzorov V, Menard E, Willett RL, Someya T, Gershenson ME, Rogers JA (2004) Elastomeric transistor stamps: reversible probing of charge transport in organic crystals. Science 303(5664):1644–1646
Kietzke T (2007) Recent Advances in Organic Solar Cells. Advances in OptoElectronics 2007. doi:10.1155/2007/40285
McCulloch I, Heeney M, Bailey C, Genevicius K, MacDonald I, Shkunov M, Sparrowe D, Tierney S, Wagner R, Zhang W, Chabinyc ML, Kline RJ, McGehee MD, Toney MF (2006) Liquid-crystalline semiconducting polymers with high charge-carrier mobility. Nat Mater 5(4):328–333
Anthopoulos TD (2006) High performance n-channel organic field-effect transistors and ring oscillators based on C60 fullerene films. Appl Phys Lett 89(21):213504
Gundlach DJ (2005) High mobility n-channel organic thin-film transistors and complementary inverters. J Appl Phys 98(6):064502
Koster LJ (2006) Ultimate efficiency of polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 88(9):093511
Gregg B (2003) Comparing organic to inorganic photovoltaic cells: theory, experiment, and simulation. J Appl Phys 93(6):3605
Mayer AC, Scully SR, Hardin BE, Rowell MW, McGehee MD (2007) Polymer-based solar cells. Mater Today 10:28–33
Brütting W (2006) Introduction to the physics of organic semiconductors. In: Physics of organic semiconductors. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, pp 1–14
Coakley KM, McGehee MD (2004) Conjugated polymer photovoltaic cells. Chem Mater 16(23):4533–4542
Min C (2010) Enhancement of optical absorption in thin-film organic solar cells through the excitation of plasmonic modes in metallic gratings. Appl Phys Lett 96(13):133302
Lee JH, Kim DW, Jang H, Choi JK, Geng J, Jung JW, Yoon SC, Jung H-T (2009) Enhanced solar-cell efficiency in bulk-heterojunction polymer systems obtained by nanoimprinting with commercially available AAO membrane filters. Small 5(19):2139–2143
Andersson V (2008) Optical modeling of a folded organic solar cell. J Appl Phys 103(9):094520
Peumans P, Bulovic V, Forrest SR (2000) Efficient photon harvesting at high optical intensities in ultrathin organic double-heterostructure photovoltaic diodes. Appl Phys Lett 76(19):2650–2652
Jean-Michel N (2002) Organic photovoltaic materials and devices. CR Phys 3(4):523–542
Hoppe H, Sariciftci NS (2004) Organic solar cells: an overview. J Mater Res 19(07):1924–1945
Tang C (1986) Two-layer organic photovoltaic cell. Appl Phys Lett 48(2):183
Brabec CJ, Zerza G, Cerullo G, De Silvestri S, Luzzati S, Hummelen JC, Sariciftci S (2001) Tracing photoinduced electron transfer process in conjugated polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunctions in real time. Chem Phys Lett 340(3–4):232–236
Günes S, Neugebauer H, Sariciftci NS (2007) Conjugated polymer-based organic solar cells. Chem Rev 107(4):1324–1338
Koster LJA, Smits ECP, Mihailetchi VD, Blom PWM (2005) Device model for the operation of polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells. Phys Rev B 72(8):085205
Mihailetchi VD, Wildeman J, Blom PWM (2005) Space-charge limited photocurrent. Phys Rev Lett 94(12):126602
Koster LJ (2005) Origin of the light intensity dependence of the short-circuit current of polymer/fullerene solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 87(20):203502
Lenes M (2006) Thickness dependence of the efficiency of polymer: fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 88(24):243502
Shrotriya V (2006) Effect of self-organization in polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunctions on solar cell performance. Appl Phys Lett 89(6):063505
Brabec CJ, Cravino A, Meissner D, Sariciftci NS, Fromherz T, Rispens MT, Sanchez L, Hummelen JC (2001) Origin of the open circuit voltage of plastic solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 11(5):374–380
Parker I (1994) Carrier tunneling and device characteristics in polymer light-emitting diodes. J Appl Phys 75(3):1656
Scharber MC, Mühlbacher D, Koppe M, Denk P, Waldauf C, Heeger AJ, Brabec CJ (2006) Design rules for donors in bulk-heterojunction solar cells—towards 10% energy-conversion efficiency. Adv Mater 18(6):789–794
Mihailetchi V (2003) Cathode dependence of the open-circuit voltage of polymer: fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells. J Appl Phys 94(10):6849
Brabec C (2002) Effect of LiF/metal electrodes on the performance of plastic solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 80(7):1288
Hayakawa A (2007) High performance polythiophene/fullerene bulk-heterojunction solar cell with a TiOx hole blocking layer. Appl Phys Lett 90(16):163517
Waldauf C (2006) Highly efficient inverted organic photovoltaics using solution based titanium oxide as electron selective contact. Appl Phys Lett 89(23):233517
Kuwabara T, Nakayama T, Uozumi K, Yamaguchi T, Takahashi K (2008) Highly durable inverted-type organic solar cell using amorphous titanium oxide as electron collection electrode inserted between ITO and organic layer. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 92(11):1476–1482
Keis K, Magnusson E, Lindström H, Lindquist S-E, Hagfeldt A (2002) A 5% efficient photoelectrochemical solar cell based on nanostructured ZnO electrodes. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 73(1):51–58
Kyaw AK (2008) An inverted organic solar cell employing a sol-gel derived ZnO electron selective layer and thermal evaporated MoO3 hole selective layer. Appl Phys Lett 93(22):221107
Schmidt H (2009) Efficient semitransparent inverted organic solar cells with indium tin oxide top electrode. Appl Phys Lett 94(24):243302
Han S, Shin WS, Seo M, Gupta D, Moon S-J, Yoo S (2009) Improving performance of organic solar cells using amorphous tungsten oxides as an interfacial buffer layer on transparent anodes. Org Electron 10(5):791–797
Jiang CY, Sun XW, Zhao DW, Kyaw AKK, Li YN (2010) Low work function metal modified ITO as cathode for inverted polymer solar cells. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 94(10):1618–1621
Tao C (2008) Performance improvement of inverted polymer solar cells with different top electrodes by introducing a MoO3 buffer layer. Appl Phys Lett 93(19):193307
Xie F (2011) Improving the efficiency of polymer solar cells by incorporating gold nanoparticles into all polymer layers. Appl Phys Lett 99(15):153304
Peng B (2011) Performance improvement of polymer solar cells by using a solvent-treated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) buffer layer. Appl Phys Lett 98(24):243308
Yu G, Gao J, Hummelen JC, Wudl F, Heeger AJ (1995) Polymer photovoltaic cells: enhanced efficiencies via a network of internal donor-acceptor heterojunctions. Science 270(5243):1789–1791
Chen L, Tang Y, Fan X, Zhang C, Chu Z, Wang D, Zou D (2009) Improvement of the efficiency of CuPc/C60-based photovoltaic cells using a multistepped structure. Org Electron 10(4):724–728
Park SH, Roy A, Beaupre S, Cho S, Coates N, Moon JS, Moses D, Leclerc M, Lee K, Heeger AJ (2009) Bulk heterojunction solar cells with internal quantum efficiency approaching 100%. Nat Photon 3(5):297–302
Savenije TJ, Kroeze JE, Yang X, Loos J (2005) The Effect of thermal treatment on the morphology and charge carrier dynamics in a polythiophene–fullerene bulk heterojunction. Adv Funct Mater 15(8):1260–1266
Li G, Yao Y, Yang H, Shrotriya V, Yang G, Yang Y (2007) Solvent annealing effect in polymer solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) and methanofullerenes. Adv Funct Mater 17(10):1636–1644
Chen H-Y, Hou J, Zhang S, Liang Y, Yang G, Yang Y, Yu L, Wu Y, Li G (2009) Polymer solar cells with enhanced open-circuit voltage and efficiency. Nat Photon 3(11):649–653
Schilinsky P (2002) Recombination and loss analysis in polythiophene based bulk heterojunction photodetectors. Appl Phys Lett 81(20):3885
Padinger F, Rittberger RS, Sariciftci NS (2003) Effects of postproduction treatment on plastic solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 13(1):85–88
Vanlaeke P, Swinnen A, Haeldermans I, Vanhoyland G, Aernouts T, Cheyns D, Deibel C, D’Haen J, Heremans P, Poortmans J, Manca JV (2006) P3HT/PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells: relation between morphology and electro-optical characteristics. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 90(14):2150–2158
Kim Y, Cook S, Tuladhar SM, Choulis SA, Nelson J, Durrant JR, Bradley DDC, Giles M, McCulloch I, Ha C-S, Ree M (2006) A strong regioregularity effect in self-organizing conjugated polymer films and high-efficiency polythiophene: fullerene solar cells. Nat Mater 5(3):197–203
Hoppe H, Sariciftci NS (2006) Morphology of polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells. J Mater Chem 16(1):45–61
Yao Y, Hou J, Xu Z, Li G, Yang Y (2008) Effects of solvent mixtures on the nanoscale phase separation in polymer solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 18(12):1783–1789
Li G, Shrotriya V, Huang J, Yao Y, Moriarty T, Emery K, Yang Y (2005) High-efficiency solution processable polymer photovoltaic cells by self-organization of polymer blends. Nat Mater 4(11):864–868
Dennler G (2006) Enhanced spectral coverage in tandem organic solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 89(7):073502
Janssen AG (2007) Highly efficient organic tandem solar cells using an improved connecting architecture. Appl Phys Lett 91(7):073519
Peumans P (2003) Small molecular weight organic thin-film photodetectors and solar cells. J Appl Phys 93(7):3693
Kim JY, Lee K, Coates NE, Moses D, Nguyen T-Q, Dante M, Heeger AJ (2007) Efficient tandem polymer solar cells fabricated by all-solution processing. Science 317(5835):222–225
Gilot J (2007) Double and triple junction polymer solar cells processed from solution. Appl Phys Lett 90(14):143512
Sista S, Hong Z, Park M-H, Xu Z, Yang Y (2010) High-efficiency polymer tandem solar cells with three-terminal structure. Adv Mater 22(8):E77–E80
Shrotriya V, Li G, Yao Y, Moriarty T, Emery K, Yang Y (2006) Accurate measurement and characterization of organic solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 16(15):2016–2023
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag London
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fung, D.D.S., Choy, W.C.H. (2013). Introduction to Organic Solar Cells. In: Choy, W. (eds) Organic Solar Cells. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4823-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4823-4_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-4822-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4823-4
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)