Interface band gap narrowing behind open circuit voltage losses in Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells

A benzotrithiophene - based low band gap polymer for polymer solar cells with high open - circuit voltage †

novel electron-rich fused aromatic unit, namely benzo[1,2-b:3,4b’:5,6-d’’]trithiophene (BTT), which holds promise as a building block for semiconductor materials. In comparison with the wellknown benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene (BDT), quantumchemical calculations (B3LYP/6-31G*) predict the BTT unit to 40 be of similar donor strength. Thus, with R being alkyl chains, BTT is predicted to act as a ...

Open-Circuit Voltage Physics in Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

We have performed computer calculations to explore effects of the p/i interface on the opencircuit voltage in a-Si:H based pin solar cells. The principal conclusions are that interface limitation can occur for values of VOC significantly below the built-in potential VBI of a cell, and that the effects can be understood in terms of thermionic emission of electrons from the intrinsic layer into t...

Relating the open-circuit voltage to interface molecular properties of donor:acceptor bulk heterojunction solar cells

Polymer solar cells with enhanced open-circuit voltage and efficiency

Following the development of the bulk heterojunction1 structure, recent years have seen a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of polymer solar cells. Maximizing the open-circuit voltage in a low-bandgap polymer is one of the critical factors towards enabling high-efficiency solar cells. Study of the relation between open-circuit voltage and the energy levels of the donor/acceptor2 in bulk he...

Analysis of Losses in Open Circuit Voltage for an 18-μm Silicon Solar Cell

An 18 μm thin crystalline silicon solar cell was demonstrated, and its best open circuit voltage is 642.3 mV. However, this value is far from the cell’s theoretical upper limit in an ideal case. This paper explores the open circuit voltage losses of the thin silicon solar cell, starting from the ideal case, through first principle calculation and experiments. The open circuit voltage losses com...