Thin film organic solar cells have emerged as a replacement to inorganic solar cells based on silicon. Organic solar cells offer several advantages compared to silicon-based devices. In the last 10 years, concentrated research attempts towards accomplishing the mandatory power conversion efficiency of 10 % and environmental stability of the device still remain a main challenge. In order to influence the efficiency, polymers are frequently utilized to fabricate the absorber and buffer layers. Also, binary and tenary polymer blends have been devised to influence the performance in micro/nanostructures. In addition, the advantages of organic solar cells for realistic application, and potential solutions are also considered.

The fabrication of organic solar cells (OSCs) employing solution processing has proven to be a convenient method to guarantee the fabrication of OSCs at low cost and large-scale production. This manuscript demonstrates the successful fabrication of TFOSC with device structure: poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS)/poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): [6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)/lithium fluoride (LiF)/aluminium (Al) under ambient conditions. An overall power conversion efficiency of 3.25% and charge carrier mobility of 1.22e−2 cm v s−1 was obtained and PEDOT: PSS was beneficial in improving the charge transport processes in the preparation of organic solar cells.

In this study, organic solar cells (OSCs) were designed using the solution processing method based on spin coating. The influence of solvent additive (1-chloronapthalene (CN)) and cadmium doped barium nitrate nanoparticle incorporated into the photoactive medium based on poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl (P3HT): [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) was investigated. The power conversion efficiency of the pristine device was compared to the power conversion efficiency of the devices fabricated with 30v% of 1- chloronapthalene and different weight concentrations of nanoparticles. An optimum efficiency of 3.55 % was attained at 0.3 wt.% with solvent additive compared to 3.25 % obtained for the pristine device. This increase is attributed to a rise in charge transport of 5.32 × 10−2 cm2V−1s−1. Further investigation on the morphological properties of the nanoparticles reveals the crystalline nature of the nanoparticle.

Anthocynanins and anthocyanidins have been widely applied in various fields such as sensitizers in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs provide an alternative to the present photovoltaic technology due to its numerous advantages such as flexibility, easy fabrication, semitransparency and colour tunability. In this study, comparative analysis between crude and purified extracts obtained from withered leaves and flowers of Euphorbia mili (crown of thorns) as organic sensitisers in DSSCs. The optical and photovoltaic properties of the extracts was examined using an ultraviolet (UV) spectroscope and solar simulator respectively. There were observed shifts in the wavelength of the absorptions at (350 – 380 nm) for both extracts (crude and purified). The results from the photovoltaic parameters indicate an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) for the crude extract of the flower at 2.72%.

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using crude and purified extracts from Ipomoea involucrata leaves and flowers. The crude extract was obtained using a solvent system based on the combination of distilled water, ethanol and nitric acid. Furthermore, the purified extract comprising anthocyanins was obtained from the crude extracts. In order to study, the effectiveness of the dye, optical and electrical characteristics was determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and solar simulator respectively. The highest power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 0.00412% and 0.00234% was obtained for crude and purified extracts respectively. Also, optical absorbance examined indicate similar absorption pattern for the crude extracts as well as purified extracts. A distinctive peak between 500 and 550 nm was observed for the crude flower extract. The widespread availability of these plants and ease of extraction of the extracts make them useful as absorbers in DSSCs. Consequently, simulation to determine the performance of the extracts was established using MATLAB.