Tandem solar cells provide an effective way to harvest a broader spectrum of solar radiation by combining two or more solar cells with different absorption ranges. However, for polymer solar cells (PSCs), the performance of tandem devices lags behind single-layer cells mainly due to the lack of a high-performance low-band gap polymer with the appropriate spectral response range. Here, we demonstrate a novel low band gap (~1.44 eV) conjugated polymer specifically suitable for a tandem structure. In the single-layer device, we achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.5%. When the polymer was applied to tandem solar cells, we demonstrated a NREL certified PCE of 8.62%. Further optimization by use of different materials and processing techniques of this system has lead to record breaking efficiency of 10.6%. Furthermore, the tandem devices show excellent stability due both to the intrinsic stability of the polymer and the advanced device structure.

Plastic solar cells: Breaking the 10% commercialization barrier

244th National Meeting (2012)

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