Organic solar cells have emerged as new promising photovoltaic devices due to their potential applications in large area, printable and flexible solar panels. Organic Solar Cells: Materials and Device Physics offers an updated review on the topics covering the synthesis, properties and applications of new materials for various critical roles in devices from electrodes, interface and carrier transport materials, to the active layer composed of donors and acceptors. Addressing the important device physics issues of carrier and exciton dynamics and interface stability and novel light trapping structures, the potential for hybrid organic solar cells to provide high efficiency solar cells is examined and discussed in detail. Specific chapters covers key areas including: Latest research and designs for highly effective polymer donors/acceptors and interface materials Synthesis and application of highly transparent and conductive graphene Exciton and charge dynamics for in-depth understanding of the mechanism underlying organic solar cells. New potentials and emerging functionalities of plasmonic effects in OSCs Interface Degradation Mechanisms in organic photovoltaics improving the entire device lifetime Device architecture and operation mechanism of organic/ inorganic hybrid solar cells for next generation of high performance photovoltaics This reference can be practically and theoretically applied by senior undergraduates, postgraduates, engineers, scientists, researchers, and project managers with some fundamental knowledge in organic and inorganic semiconductor materials or devices.

This book contains detailed information on the types, structure, fabrication, and characterization of organic solar cells (OSCs). It discusses processes to improve efficiencies and the prevention of degradation in OSCs. It compares the cost-effectiveness of OSCs to those based on crystalline silicon and discusses ways to make OSCs more economical. This book provides a practical guide for the fabrication, processing, and characterization of OSCs and paves the way for further development in OSC technology.

Solar Cell Device Physics offers a balanced, in-depth qualitative and quantitative treatment of the physical principles and operating characteristics of solar cell devices. Topics covered include photovoltaic energy conversion and solar cell materials and structures, along with homojunction solar cells. Semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunction cells and surface-barrier solar cells are also discussed. This book consists of six chapters and begins by introducing the reader to the basic physical principles and materials properties that are the foundations of photovoltaic energy conversion, with emphasis on various photovoltaic devices capable of efficiently converting solar energy into usable electrical energy. The electronic and optical properties of crystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous materials with both organic and inorganic materials are considered, together with the manner in which these properties change from one material class to another and the implications of such changes for photovoltaics. Generation, recombination, and bulk transport are also discussed. The two mechanisms of photocarrier collection in solar cells, drift and diffusion, are then compared. The remaining chapters focus on specific solar cell device classes defined in terms of the interface structure employed: homojunctions, semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunctions, and surface-barrier devices. This monograph is appropriate for use as a textbook for graduate students in engineering and the sciences and for seniors in electrical engineering and applied physics, as well as a reference book for those actively involved in solar cell research and development.

This book covers in a textbook-like fashion the basics or organic solar cells, addressing the limits of photovoltaic energy conversion and giving a well-illustrated introduction to molecular electronics with focus on the working principle and characterization of organic solar cells. Further chapters based on the author’s dissertation focus on the electrical processes in organic solar cells by presenting a detailed drift-diffusion approach to describe exciton separation and charge-carrier transport and extraction. The results, although elaborated on small-molecule solar cells and with focus on the zinc phthalocyanine: C60 material system, are of general nature. They propose and demonstrate experimental approaches for getting a deeper understanding of the dominating processes in amorphous thin-film based solar cells in general. The main focus is on the interpretation of the current-voltage characteristics (J-V curve). This very standard measurement technique for a solar cell reflects the electrical processes in the device. Comparing experimental to simulation data, the author discusses the reasons for S-Shaped J-V curves, the role of charge carrier mobilities and energy barriers at interfaces, the dominating recombination mechanisms, the charge carrier generation profile, and other efficiency-limiting processes in organic solar cells. The book concludes with an illustrative guideline on how to identify reasons for changes in the J-V curve. This book is a suitable introduction for students in engineering, physics, material science, and chemistry starting in the field of organic or hybrid thin-film photovoltaics. It is just as valuable for professionals and experimentalists who analyze solar cell devices.

Organic solar cells have emerged as new promising photovoltaic devices due to their potential applications in large area, printable and flexible solar panels. Organic Solar Cells: Materials and Device Physics offers an updated review on the topics covering the synthesis, properties and applications of new materials for various critical roles in devices from electrodes, interface and carrier transport materials, to the active layer composed of donors and acceptors. Addressing the important device physics issues of carrier and exciton dynamics and interface stability and novel light trapping structures, the potential for hybrid organic solar cells to provide high efficiency solar cells is examined and discussed in detail. Specific chapters covers key areas including: Latest research and designs for highly effective polymer donors/acceptors and interface materials Synthesis and application of highly transparent and conductive graphene Exciton and charge dynamics for in-depth understanding of the mechanism underlying organic solar cells. New potentials and emerging functionalities of plasmonic effects in OSCs Interface Degradation Mechanisms in organic photovoltaics improving the entire device lifetime Device architecture and operation mechanism of organic/ inorganic hybrid solar cells for next generation of high performance photovoltaics This reference can be practically and theoretically applied by senior undergraduates, postgraduates, engineers, scientists, researchers, and project managers with some fundamental knowledge in organic and inorganic semiconductor materials or devices.

Providing complementary viewpoints from academia as well as technology companies, this book covers the three most important aspects of successful device design: materials, device physics, and manufacturing technologies. It also offers an insight into commercialization concerns, such as packaging technologies, system integration, reel-to-reel large scale manufacturing issues and production costs. With an introduction by Nobel Laureate Alan Heeger.