《ADVANCED MATERIALS》Chinese Academy of Sciences Bao Xichang & Li Yonghai Research Team - Significant Efficiency Improvements in Organic Solar Cells Promise Accelerated Commercialization
Advantages and Potential of Organic Solar Cells
Organic solar cells are considered the ideal energy source for portable and wearable devices in the future due to their light weight and flexibility. However, their energy conversion efficiency has been a technological bottleneck. Recently, a research team of Xichang Bao & Yonghai Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published their latest findings, achieving a 19% conversion efficiency in ternary organic solar cells, only one or two percentage points less than traditional inorganic solar cells. This is believed to be a major breakthrough for the commercialization of organic solar cells.
＊The Enlitech QE-R equipment was used for the study in this paper.
Breakthrough of 19% Conversion Efficiency by Chinese Academy of Sciences
The research team significantly improved the conversion efficiency of ternary organic solar cells by adding a third “guest” material and adjusting the material structure. The researchers indicated that by optimizing the crystallinity and configuration of the guest material, the absorption spectrum can be broadened, the transmission efficiency enhanced, and more sunlight captured. By combining the guest module with the acceptor material, the conversion efficiency reached 19% in the lab.
Outlook and Expectations for Future Commercial Applications
The groundbreaking improvement in the efficiency of organic solar cells makes their commercial application imminent. Compared to traditional inorganic solar modules, the advantages of organic solar cells lie in their printability and flexible design, which can be integrated into buildings or wearables. Once mass production is achieved, costs can be greatly reduced. The industry looks forward to organic solar cells playing a key role as green sustainable energy and accelerating the development of related commercial products.
Figure S1. The optimal J-V plot and corresponding EQE curve of PM6:LA1 solar cells.
Figure S19. EQE plots of the optimal binary and ternary solar cells.
