Photovoltaic phenomenon was first observed by E. Becquerel (Becquerel) in 1839. He observed the electric current-lit silver electrode, immersed in the electrolyte. In 1894, taking advantage of the observed photoconductivity phenomenon in amorphous selenium the semiconductor solar cell was developed. The very first silicon p-n junction solar cell was made in 1954, energy conversion efficiency of...

We report Barium (Ba) cathode layer for bulk-heterojunction solar cells which enhanced the fill factor (FF) of p-DTS(FBTTh2)2/PC71BM BHJ solar cell up to 75.1%, one of the highest value reported for an organic solar cell. The external quantum efficiency exceeds 80%. Analysis of recombination mechanisms using the current-voltage (J-V) characteristics at various light intensities in the BHJ solar...

Articles you may be interested in Improved cathode buffer layer to decrease exciton recombination in organic planar heterojunction solar cells Appl. The use of thermal initiator to make organic bulk heterojunction solar cells with a good percolation path Appl. Effects of molecular interface modification in hybrid organic-inorganic photovoltaic cells We develop an empirically based optoelectroni...

Bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (BHJ–OPV) devices have been the topic of ever increasing research efforts due to their potential to result in printable, inexpensive solar cells which can be processed onto fl exible substrates. [ 1–3 ] Typically, the active layer of the BHJ consists of an interpenetrating network of electrondonating conjugated polymers and electron-accepting fullerenes....

Small molecules with dithieno[3,2-b;2',3'-d]thiophene as central building block and octyl cyanoacetate and octyl cyanoacetamide as different terminal building blocks have been designed and synthesized. The amide containing small molecule can form intermolecular hydrogen bonding between N-H...O = C of the amide group. The photovoltaic properties and active layer morphologies of the two molecules...

Perylenediimide functionalized bridged siloxane nanoparticles were prepared by direct hydrolysis and condensation of a perylenediimide silane precursor in the presence of a catalytic amount of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). The sizes of the particles were controlled by adjusting organotrialkoxysilane, base, and TEOS concentrations. Using this modified Stöber method, we were able to incorporate a hig...

Polymer solar cells are a promising alternative to more traditional silicon solar cells. This is mainly due to the good solubility of organic semiconductors, which makes it possible to produce large-scale and mechanically flexible devices with roll-to-roll processes. To be able to fully utilise this promising technique the stability of the materials, used in these devices, must be guaranteed. T...

The performance of organic solar cells based on the blends of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is strongly influenced by blend composition and thermal annealing conditions. For high-efficiency solar cells, a nanoscale interpenetrating network with crystalline order of both constituents is the desirable architecture for the photoactive layer. To...

A visible light communication (VLC) system using an organic bulk heterojunction photodetector (OPD) is presented. The system has been successfully proven indoors with an audio signal. The emitter consists of three commercial high-power white LEDs connected in parallel. The receiver is based on an organic photodetector having as active layer a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl C6...