Efficient Tandem Polymer Solar Cells Fabricated by All-Solution Processing
Abstract
Tandem solar cells, in which two solar cells with different absorption characteristics are linked to use a wider range of the solar spectrum, were fabricated with each layer processed from solution with the use of bulk heterojunction materials comprising semiconducting polymers and fullerene derivatives. A transparent titanium oxide (TiOx) layer separates and connects the front cell and the back cell. The TiOx layer serves as an electron transport and collecting layer for the first cell and as a stable foundation that enables the fabrication of the second cell to complete the tandem cell architecture. We use an inverted structure with the low band-gap polymer-fullerene composite as the charge-separating layer in the front cell and the high band-gap polymer composite as that in the back cell. Power-conversion efficiencies of more than 6% were achieved at illuminations of 200 milliwatts per square centimeter.
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The research was supported by Konarka Technologies (Lowell, MA), by the U.S. Department of Energy (under grant DE-FGO2-06ER46324), and by the Ministry of Science & Technology of Korea under the International Cooperation Research Program (Global Research Laboratory Program: K.L. and A.J.H., Principal Investigators). The PCPDTBT, PCBM, P3HT, and PC70BM materials were supplied for our use by Konarka Technologies. We thank W. Ma for contributions during the early phase of this work.
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Published In
Science
Volume 317 | Issue 5835
13 July 2007
13 July 2007
Copyright
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 23 February 2007
Accepted: 16 May 2007
Published in print: 13 July 2007
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