Polymer Solar Cells with Active Layer Thickness Compatible with Scalable Fabrication Processes: A Meta-Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy
• Photovoltaics

Background:

• Organic photovoltaics (OPV) are a promising solar technology with significant lab-scale performance improvements.
• Despite progress, OPV's market share remains negligible due to manufacturing challenges.
• Scaling up OPV production requires addressing issues beyond lab-level device efficiency and stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the impact of active layer thickness on organic photovoltaics (OPV) for manufacturing-scale production.
• To evaluate the thickness tolerance (TT) of OPV devices with non-fullerene acceptors (NFA) and fullerene acceptors (FA).
• To identify strategies for improving OPV manufacturing compatibility.

Main Methods:

• A meta-analysis of literature published up to mid-2021 on OPV devices with high-thickness active layers.
• Review of solar cells with NFA binary/ternary blends and NFA/FA ternary blends.
• Definition and application of a new figure of merit, thickness tolerance (TT).

Main Results:

• Analyzed OPV devices feature high-thickness active layers suitable for large-area deposition.
• The thickness tolerance (TT) was found to be independent of the chemical nature of active blend components.
• No significant difference in TT was observed between NFA-only and NFA/FA ternary blends.

Conclusions:

• Active layer thickness is a critical factor for scaling OPV manufacturing.
• Thickness tolerance is not inherently limited by the chemical composition of the active layer blends.
• Promising strategies exist to enhance OPV thickness tolerance and facilitate commercialization.