Shining Light on Organic Solar Cells

• Published in: Solar RRL Vol. 4; no. 6
• Main Authors: Colsmann, Alexander, Röhm, Holger, Sprau, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.06.2020
• Subjects: building integration; device performance; device stability; environmentally friendly production; mobile energy supply; organic solar cells
• ISSN: 2367-198X; 2367-198X
• DOI: 10.1002/solr.202000015

Organic solar cells have come a long way from fundamental considerations of charge carrier dynamics in organic semiconductors to devices with laboratory power conversion efficiencies exceeding 17% and first power harvesting installations. Despite this story of success, these days, the scientific community witnesses a shift of research effort to other solar concepts, leaving behind a high‐potential solar technology with better applicability forecasts than ever before. Very compelling reasons still exist why organic solar cells can become the solar technology of the future that offers design versatility and enables unprecedented applications while offering the lowest energy payback times and ecologic sustainability. This perspective article highlights why organic solar cells remain a research field of the highest socioeconomic relevance, which challenges remain to be overcome in the future, and how organic solar cells can make a difference in the future energy landscape. Current achievements in organic solar cells are reviewed and future challenges from fundamental science to industrial applications are discussed, putting organic photovoltaics in perspective. The article touches on power conversion efficiencies, device stability, material design, printability of organic solar cells and their environmental footprint as well as the unique features of organic photovoltaic applications.