Custom-Shaped Organic Photovoltaic Modules-Freedom of Design by Printing

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy
• Organic Electronics

Background:

• Organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology offers design flexibility.
• Traditional OPV fabrication often requires post-patterning steps.
• Scalable manufacturing of custom-shaped OPVs is an ongoing challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the fabrication of custom-shaped OPV modules using printing methods.
• To explore the potential of gravure and rotary screen printing for arbitrary OPV designs.
• To assess the performance of a proof-of-concept OPV leaf module.

Main Methods:

• Utilized gravure and rotary screen printing for fabricating main active layers of OPV.
• Developed a direct patterning process for arbitrary 2D shapes and electric contacts.
• Manufactured an A5-sized OPV module in the shape of a tree leaf.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated custom-shaped OPV modules without post-patterning.
• Achieved a power conversion efficiency of 2.0% for the leaf-shaped OPV.
• The OPV leaf module had an overall size of 110 cm² and an active area of 50 cm², delivering 98 mW maximum power.

Conclusions:

• Printing techniques enable significant freedom in designing and fabricating OPV modules.
• Direct patterning of arbitrary shapes and contacts is feasible with gravure and screen printing.
• This approach facilitates the development of novel, aesthetically integrated OPV applications.