Accelerated stability testing of organic photovoltaics using concentrated sunlight

Katz, Eugene A.; Manor, Assaf; Mescheloff, Asaf; Tromholt, Thomas; Krebs, Frederik C.

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2012.6318270

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…V oc and I sc increase with increasing solar intensity range, whereas FF and η decrease. Such general behavior is in agreement with observations on polymer:fullerene system using AM1.5 spectrum and concentrator setups. − As a consequence, the change in spectrum illuminating the solar cells does not change the general trend. In other words, the gradual increase of V oc suggests that V oc is not only determined by internal factors such as work function difference of the donor and acceptor materials, but also by external factors such as the solar intensity.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Such increase in solar intensity would happen in space applications which have orbits closer to the sun than our Earth. So far in literature, polymer solar cells are routinely investigated with the AM1.5 spectrum only. , High solar intensities, such as realized in concentrator cells’ arrangements, as well are based on the AM1.5 spectrum only. − Due to the differences in the spectrum, it remains unclear to what extent such investigations can be transferred to potential space applications.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First Step into Space: Performance and Morphological Evolution of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells under AM0 Illumination

Müller‐Buschbaum

Perlich

Wang

et al. 2014

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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P3HT (poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl)):PC61BM ([6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester) bulk heterojunction solar cells are fabricated and characterized as a function of solar intensity, temperature, and aging at vacuum conditions under illumination with AM0 illumination for testing potential use in space applications. The evolution of the inner film morphology is probed with grazing incidence X-ray scattering techniques and correlated with the evolution of the efficiency during aging. Grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering shows almost no change of the crystalline structure of the P3HT:PCBM films due to aging. In contrast, the morphological evolution on the mesoscale extracted from grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering can explain the observed decay of the overall efficiency. The behavior at high solar intensities as well as elevated temperatures suggests that organic solar cells have high potential for space applications in the future.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Step into Space: Performance and Morphological Evolution of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells under AM0 Illumination

Müller‐Buschbaum

Perlich

Wang

et al. 2014

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…We attribute it to heat dissipation during the 'light off' period in each cycle, preventing heat accumulation in the P3HT:PCBM. This behaviour is in agreement with our previously published measurements of light intensity dependence of V oc of P3HT:PCBM OPV cells, demonstrating no cell heating by chopped sunlight concentrated up to 100 suns [47]. Such behaviour is expected in high frequency chopping where the thermal inertia of the system smoothes temporal temperature fluctuations.…”

Section: (B) (A)supporting

confidence: 92%

Concentrated sunlight for accelerated stability testing of organic photovoltaic materials: towards decoupling light intensity and temperature

Visoly‐Fisher

Mescheloff

Gabay

et al. 2015

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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We have demonstrated OPV accelerated degradation studies using concentrated sunlight, where the atmosphere, temperature and illumination intensity were independently controlled. Testing various schemes for controlling the sample temperature under concentrated sunlight showed that heating of P3HT:PCBM was caused by photons at the absorbed wavelength range and dissipation of excess photon energy, and not necessarily by IR photon absorption. Sunlight chopping was found to be an effective method for independent temperature control under illumination by concentrated sunlight.The first accelerated degradation tests using sunlight concentration applied to P3HT:PCBM blends were reported. P3HT:PCBM blends exposed to concentrated sunlight in the presence of traces of oxygen/ humidity showed degradation induced by photo-oxidation of the P3HT backbone within the P3HT:PCBM blend, which is significantly thermally accelerated, in agreement with previous observations. However, this could be demonstrated in a time scale of 1 Corresponding authors2 minutes and hours, i.e., significantly accelerated. Exposure of well encapsulated P3HT:PCBM films to concentrated sunlight demonstrated stability up to 3,600 sun*hours, corresponding to about 1.6 years of operating time. This result was obtained at 300 suns exposure after merely 12 hours, demonstrating the advantage of using concentrated sunlight for accelerated stability tests.These tests can therefore combine extremely high acceleration factors with profound understanding of the effect of various, independently controlled factors on the degradation mechanisms.

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“…It is clear that the majority of OPV stability studies have been performed under well-controlled laboratory conditions 6 7 8 9 . Although numerous lessons have been learned from in-house and accelerated lifetime studies 10 , systematic studies on the operation and degradation of PSCs during ‘real-world’ outdoor operation is still limited.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

PCDTBT based solar cells: one year of operation under real-world conditions

Zhang

Bovill

Kingsley³

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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We present measurements of the outdoor stability of PCDTBT:PC71BM based bulk heterojunction organic solar cells for over the course of a year. We find that the devices undergo a burn-in process lasting 450 hours followed by a TS80 lifetime of up to 6200 hours. We conclude that in the most stable devices, the observed TS80 lifetime is limited by thermally-induced stress between the device layers, as well as materials degradation as a result of edge-ingress of water or moisture through the encapsulation.

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Accelerated stability testing of organic photovoltaics using concentrated sunlight

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

First Step into Space: Performance and Morphological Evolution of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells under AM0 Illumination

First Step into Space: Performance and Morphological Evolution of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells under AM0 Illumination

Concentrated sunlight for accelerated stability testing of organic photovoltaic materials: towards decoupling light intensity and temperature

PCDTBT based solar cells: one year of operation under real-world conditions

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