Organic electronics is a field of materials science concerning the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of organic molecules or polymers that show desirable electronic properties such as conductivity. Unlike conventional inorganic conductors and semiconductors, organic electronic materials are constructed from organic (carbon-based) molecules or polymers using synthetic strategies developed in the context of organic chemistry and polymer chemistry.
In the 19th century, it was observed that the sunlight striking certain materials generates detectable electric current – the photoelectric effect. This discovery laid the foundation for solar cells. Solar cells have gone on to be used in many applications. They have historically been used in situations where electrical power from the grid was unavailable.
A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect. It is a form of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics vary when it is exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices are often the electrical building blocks of photovoltaic modules, known colloquially as "solar panels". Almost all commercial PV cells consist of crystalline silicon, with a market share of 95%. Cadmium telluride thin-film solar cells account for the remainder. The common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts.
Phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLED) are a type of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) that use the principle of phosphorescence to obtain higher internal efficiencies than fluorescent OLEDs. This technology is currently under development by many industrial and academic research groups.
Hybrid solar cells combine advantages of both organic and inorganic semiconductors. Hybrid photovoltaics have organic materials that consist of conjugated polymers that absorb light as the donor and transport holes. Inorganic materials in hybrid cells are used as the acceptor and electron transporter in the structure. The hybrid photovoltaic devices have a potential for not only low-cost by roll-to-roll processing but also for scalable solar power conversion.
Martin Andrew Green is an Australian engineer and professor at the University of New South Wales who works on solar energy. He was awarded the 2021 Japan Prize for his achievements in the "Development of High-Efficiency Silicon Photovoltaic Devices". He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Progress in Photovoltaics.
A quantum dot solar cell (QDSC) is a solar cell design that uses quantum dots as the captivating photovoltaic material. It attempts to replace bulk materials such as silicon, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) or cadmium telluride (CdTe). Quantum dots have bandgaps that are adjustable across a wide range of energy levels by changing their size. In bulk materials, the bandgap is fixed by the choice of material(s). This property makes quantum dots attractive for multi-junction solar cells, where a variety of materials are used to improve efficiency by harvesting multiple portions of the solar spectrum.
Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are photovoltaic materials that are used to replace conventional building materials in parts of the building envelope such as the roof, skylights, or façades. They are increasingly being incorporated into the construction of new buildings as a principal or ancillary source of electrical power, although existing buildings may be retrofitted with similar technology. The advantage of integrated photovoltaics over more common non-integrated systems is that the initial cost can be offset by reducing the amount spent on building materials and labor that would normally be used to construct the part of the building that the BIPV modules replace. In addition, BIPV allows for more widespread solar adoption when the building's aesthetics matter and traditional rack-mounted solar panels would disrupt the intended look of the building.
Organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) are fabricated from thin films of organic semiconductors, such as polymers and small-molecule compounds, and are typically on the order of 100 nm thick. Because polymer based OPVs can be made using a coating process such as spin coating or inkjet printing, they are an attractive option for inexpensively covering large areas as well as flexible plastic surfaces. A promising low cost alternative to conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon, there is a large amount of research being dedicated throughout industry and academia towards developing OPVs and increasing their power conversion efficiency.
An organic solar cell (OSC) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport to produce electricity from sunlight by the photovoltaic effect. Most organic photovoltaic cells are polymer solar cells.
Thin-film solar cells are a type of solar cell made by depositing one or more thin layers of photovoltaic material onto a substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal. Thin-film solar cells are typically a few nanometers (nm) to a few microns (μm) thick–much thinner than the wafers used in conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) based solar cells, which can be up to 200 μm thick. Thin-film solar cells are commercially used in several technologies, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), and amorphous thin-film silicon.
Crystalline silicon or (c-Si) Is the crystalline forms of silicon, either polycrystalline silicon, or monocrystalline silicon. Crystalline silicon is the dominant semiconducting material used in photovoltaic technology for the production of solar cells. These cells are assembled into solar panels as part of a photovoltaic system to generate solar power from sunlight.
There are currently many research groups active in the field of photovoltaics in universities and research institutions around the world. This research can be categorized into three areas: making current technology solar cells cheaper and/or more efficient to effectively compete with other energy sources; developing new technologies based on new solar cell architectural designs; and developing new materials to serve as more efficient energy converters from light energy into electric current or light absorbers and charge carriers.
A luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is a device for concentrating radiation, solar radiation in particular, to produce electricity. Luminescent solar concentrators operate on the principle of collecting radiation over a large area, converting it by luminescence and directing the generated radiation into relatively small photovoltaic solar cells at the edges.
Thermodynamic efficiency limit is the absolute maximum theoretically possible conversion efficiency of sunlight to electricity. Its value is about 86%, which is the Chambadal-Novikov efficiency, an approximation related to the Carnot limit, based on the temperature of the photons emitted by the Sun's surface.
A perovskite solar cell (PSC) is a type of solar cell that includes a perovskite-structured compound, most commonly a hybrid organic–inorganic lead or tin halide-based material as the light-harvesting active layer. Perovskite materials, such as methylammonium lead halides and all-inorganic cesium lead halide, are cheap to produce and simple to manufacture.
Polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells are a type of solar cell researched in academic laboratories. Polymer-fullerene solar cells are a subset of organic solar cells, also known as organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells, which use organic materials as their active component to convert solar radiation into electrical energy. The polymer, which functions as the donor material in these solar cells, and fullerene derivatives, which function as the acceptor material, are essential components. Specifically, fullerene derivatives act as electron acceptors for donor materials like P3HT, creating a polymer-fullerene based photovoltaic cell. The Polymer-fullerene BHJ forms two channels for transferring electrons and holes to the corresponding electrodes, as opposed to the planar architecture when the Acceptor (A) and Donor (D) materials were sequentially stacked on top of each other and could selectively touch the cathode and anode electrodes. Hence, the D and A domains are expected to form a bi-continuous network with Nano-scale morphology for efficient charge transport and collection after exciton dissociation. Therefore, in the BHJ device architecture, a mixture of D and A molecules in the same or different solvents was used to form a bi-continual layer, which serves as the active layer of the device that absorbs light for exciton generation. The bi-continuous three-dimensional interpenetrating network of the BHJ design generates a greater D-A interface, which is necessary for effective exciton dissociation in the BHJ due to short exciton diffusion. When compared to the prior bilayer design, photo-generated excitons may dissociate into free holes and electrons more effectively, resulting in better charge separation for improved performance of the cell.
Ubiquitous Energy is a transparent solar technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California, which is located within Silicon Valley. Ubiquitous Energy designs and develops transparent solar technology for windows, electronics, and other applications. The company’s transparent solar technology is branded as UE Power™.
Mark E. Thompson is a Californian chemistry academic who has worked with OLEDs.
Suning Wang was a Chinese-born Canadian chemist. She was a Professor of Chemistry, Research Chair and head of the Wang Group at Queen's University, Canada, having joined the Department of Chemistry at Queen's University in 1996. Wang worked on the development of new Organometallic chemistry and luminescent materials chemistry. Her research interests also included the work on organic Photovoltaics and Nanoparticle, stimuli-responsive materials as well as OLEDs. Wang and her group developed a simple method of producing graphene-like lattice through light exposure, which may contribute to a huge field of future use. Wang held several patents related to the application of luminescent compounds and boron compounds.
