Longitudinal Through‐Hole Architecture for Efficient and Thickness‐Insensitive Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

Semi‐transparent organic solar cells (ST‐OSCs) have great potential for application in vehicle‐ or building‐integrated solar energy harvesting. Ultrathin active layers and electrodes are typically utilized to guarantee high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and high average visible transmittance (AVT) simultaneously; however, such ultrathin parts are unsuitable for industrial high‐throughput manufacturing. In this study, ST‐OSCs are fabricated using a longitudinal through‐hole architecture to achieve functional region division and to eliminate the dependence on ultrathin films. A complete circuit that vertically corresponds to the silver grid is responsible for obtaining high PCE, and the longitudinal through‐holes embedded in it allow most of the light to pass through,where the overall transparency is associated with the through‐hole specification rather than the thicknesses of active layer and electrode. Excellent photovoltaic performance over a wide range of transparency (9.80–60.03%), with PCEs ranging from 6.04% to 15.34% is achieved. More critically, this architecture allows printable 300‐nm‐thick devices to achieve a record‐breaking light utilization efficiency (LUE) of 3.25%, and enables flexible ST‐OSCs to exhibit better flexural endurance by dispersing the extrusion stress into the through‐holes. This study paves the way for fabricating high‐performance ST‐OSCs and shows great promise for the commercialization of organic photovoltaics.

Optimization Light Utilization Efficiency of Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells by Regulating Absorption Spectrum

“…Ideal ST-OSCs should absorb as many photons as possible in the invisible region to realize photon–electron conversion while transmitting as many photons as possible in the visible region. To address this issue, researchers have dedicated considerable efforts to synthesize new materials with strong absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) and weak absorption in the visible light − and also explored the use of transparent electrodes with good conductivity and transmittance, such as Ag nanowires . Furthermore, researchers have investigated the introduction of optical microcavities or dielectric/metal/dielectric (D/M/D) to achieve enhanced reflection or transmittance in specific wavelength regions. − However, the high cost and complexity of these ways are not conducive to commercialization.…”

Correlation of Broad Absorption Band with Small Singlet‐Triplet Energy Gap in Organic Photovoltaics

“…Organic photovoltaics (OPV) are one of emerging photovoltaics incorporating organic semiconductors in the photoactive layer, [1] which benefits tunable optical transparency and color, special heat insulation, and diverse form factors [2–6] . These enable OPV of great promise to be manufactured in roll‐to‐roll process for building‐/vehicle‐integrated photovoltaic applications [7–8] .…”

“…Organic photovoltaics (OPV) are one of emerging photovoltaics incorporating organic semiconductors in the photoactive layer, [1] which benefits tunable optical transparency and color, special heat insulation, and diverse form factors. [2][3][4][5][6] These enable OPV of great promise to be manufactured in roll-to-roll process for building-/vehicleintegrated photovoltaic applications. [7][8] Owing to innovative structural design of organic semiconductors and the breakthroughs made in device engineering, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single-junction OPV has exceeded 19 % when processed with halogenated solvents.…”

Light Management for Fullerene-Based Semitransparent Polymer Solar Cells with a Distributed Bragg Reflector

“…These devices typically rely on thin films of organic materials, including polymers and small molecules, that absorb photons in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) parts of the solar spectrum to convert them to electrical energy through the photovoltaic effect. The achievement of visible transparency is made possible through optimization of the active layer’s thickness , and pattern, material screening, optimizing the weight ratio of donor to acceptor, and rear electrode design. − Despite opaque OPVs reaching power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of around 20%, , ST-OPVs still face significant challenges, including low PCEs, limited stability, and the need to balance photovoltaic performance with visible transparency …”