MOLYCELL: Molecular orientation, low band gap and new hybrid device concepts for the improvement of flexible organic solar cells

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 03.0681-1

Key words (English)

Solar cell; organic PV; hybrid solar cell; flexible solar cell; nanocrystalline solar cell; hole conductor; polymer solar cell

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: 502783

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 6. Frame Research Programme - 1.6.1.2.4

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

Low cost organic PV with efficiency, > 5 % on 1 cm2 glass and > 4 % on 1 cm2 flexible substrates, and longer lifetimes are the aims of this project. Two streams will be pursued: 1) synthesis of new materials to improve the charge transport and solar spectral match of component materials and 2) development of two different device concepts, namely all-organic solar cells and nanocrystal -organic hybrid solar cells. The first type will be based on donor-acceptor bulk heterojunctions built by blending two organic materials serving as electron donors and electron acceptors and sandwiching it between two electrodes. An innovative junction concept based on the orientation of polar molecules and a multi-junction bulk donor-acceptor heterojunction device will be developed. Nanocrystal/organic hybrid solar cell devices will be solid-state heterojunctions between nanocrystalline metal oxides and molecular/polymeric hole conductors. Two modes of light absorption will be studied: (i) the sensitisation of the heterojunction with molecular dyes and (ii) the use of hole conductor polymers tailored to achieve visible light absorption. Our objective is to bring PV production costs to below 1 Euro/Wp. Other technical objectives for nanocrystalline / organic hybrid solar cells include the fabrication methodology development for reel to reel production on flexible substrates, >3000 hours stable operation in indoors and a roadmap for stable outdoor operation. Non-toxic materials will be used. Minimization of interfacial recombination losses, optimisation of charge collection, light scattering and the nano-morphology of photoactive layer are also key tasks. Development of low temperature processing routes will allow device fabrication on flexible substrates. The development of numerical models for device function and the identification of issues controlling device stability are also included as tasks to be fulfilled.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 03.0681-1