In this presentation, the fundamentals of Polymer Solar Cell (PSC) materials and devices will be reviewed. Several strategies to enhance the efficiency will be discussed. By controlling the morphology of the active layer, we have achieved 4-7% single junction devices. By using the �plasmonic effect� of gold nano-particles to increase the absorption of the active layer, another 20% efficiency enhancement was observed. By combining two cells with complementary spectral absorption ranges into a serially connected �tandem� device, as well as a newly designed high performance low-bandgap polymer, we demonstrate NREL certified record breaking efficiency of 8.62% for a tandem PSC. By further optimization, another record of 10.6% was achieved recently. In addition to their improving efficiency, several novel applications of PSCs will be presented such as semitransparent and light polarizing solar panels, which show high potential for applications in energy-generating windows and liquid crystal displays.

Recent progress in polymer solar cells

244th National Meeting (2012)

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