In order to improve the accuracy, validity, reliability and reproducibility of reported power conversion efficiencies for solar cells, the journal, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (SOLMAT), wishes to define how power conversion efficiencies should be reported. This expands upon what is specified in our Guide for Authors. This editorial also serves as a guide on how efficiency data should...

Although electrokinetic effects are not new, only recently have they been investigated for possible use in energy conversion devices. We recently reported the electrokinetic generation of molecular hydrogen from rapidly flowing liquid water microjets [Duffin et al. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 12031]. Here, we describe the use of liquid water microjets for direct conversion of electrokinetic ene...

Solar cells are one attractive method for harnessing inexhaustible clean energy from the sun. Organic photovoltaic technology is emerging as a potential competitor to silicon-based photovoltaic cells (PVCs), and their power conversion efficiencies (PCE) can now exceed 6%. Polymeric bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) PVCs, whose photoactive layer is composed of a blend of bicontinuous and interpenetratin...

In this article, we report how the growth method used for barium beta-borate β−BaB2O4 (BBO) impacts its high power second harmonic generation properties in the deep-UV. We compared a BBO crystal grown by flux (Top Seeded Solution Growth or TSSG) and a BBO crystal grown by the Czochralski (CZ) method. We first characterized their transparency properties, then we measured their single-pass second...

A crucial issue facing polymer-based solar cells is how to manage the energetics of the polymer/fullerene blends to maximize short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage at the same time and thus the power conversion efficiency. Here we demonstrate that the use of a naphthobisoxadiazole-based polymer with a narrow bandgap of 1.52 eV leads to high open-circuit voltages of approximately...

Substituting olefinic for acetylenic pi-spacers in anthracene-based conjugated semiconductor donors leads to appreciable increases in the power conversion efficiencies of the resulting bulk heterojunction solar cells.

Recent advances in polymer solar cell (PSC) performance have resulted from compressing the bandgap to enhance the short-circuit current while lowering the highest occupied molecular orbital to increase the open-circuit voltage. Nevertheless, PSC power conversion efficiencies are still constrained by low fill factors, typically below 70%. Here, we report PSCs with exceptionally high fill factors...