Background
The high cost of inorganic silicon solar cells significantly limits their widespread application. Organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, on the other hand, use polymer blends that can be processed from solution and have the potential to yield cheap, flexible, and efficient solar cells.
Description
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed a novel technique for controlling the blend morphology in polymeric BHJ systems. When this technique is used to make the active layer in a photovoltaic device, photoconductivity and power conversion efficiency are enhanced. In addition, the thermal annealing step typically required in device manufacture can be eliminated, significantly reducing processing costs.
Advantages
This novel technique enables the creation of solar cells and photodetectors with the following important advantages:
•Photoconductivity is the highest ever reported for a solution-based polymer system;
•Power conversion efficiency is dramatically increased (50% greater than control without annealing); and
•The thermal annealing step can be eliminated, significantly reducing processing costs.
Patent Status
Patent Pending; U.S. Patent Application 20080315187 published on 25 Dec, 2008
Patent Pending; U.S. Patent Application 20090032808 published on 11 Dec, 2008
Inventors
Bazan, Guillermo C.
Heeger, Alan J.
Mikhailovsky, Alexander A.
Moses, Daniel
Nguyen, Thuc Quyen T.
Peet, Jeffrey H.
Soci, Cesare
