Organic Solar Cells: Fundamentals, Devices, and Upscaling

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have the potential to make a significant contribution to the increasing energy needs of the future. In this book, 15 chapters written by selected experts explore the required characteristics of components present in an OPV device, such as transparent electrodes, electron- and hole-conducting layers, as well as electron donor and acceptor materials. Design, preparation, and evaluation of these materials targeting highest performance are discussed. This includes contributions on modeling down to the molecular level to device-level electrical and optical testing and modeling, as well as layer morphology control and characterization. The integration of the different components in device architectures suitable for mass production is described. Finally, the technical feasibility and economic viability of large-scale manufacturing using fast inexpensive roll-to-roll deposition technologies is assessed.

Barry P. Rand earned a BE in electrical engineering from The Cooper Union, USA, in 2001. Then he received an MA and a PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton University, USA, in 2003 and 2007, respectively. From 2007 to 2013, he was at imec in Leuven, Belgium, ultimately as a principal scientist, researching the understanding, optimization, and manufacturability of thin-film solar cells. Since 2013, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. Prof. Rand’s research interests highlight the border between electrical engineering, materials science, chemistry, and applied physics, covering electronic and optoelectronic thin films and devices, devices composed of nanostructured media, and plasmonics. He has authored more than 60 refereed journal publications and has 14 issued US patents.

Henning Richter was trained as a chemist in Germany and Belgium and has been working for more than 15 years on the synthesis and characterization of carbonaceous nanostructures. He is currently director of materials synthesis research at Nano-C, Inc., and visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining Nano-C in 2001, he conducted research on fullerene and soot formation in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. At Nano-C, Henning has been involved in the further development of selective combustion synthesis of fullerenes and single-walled carbon nanotubes as well as their purification and chemical functionalization to mature industrial processes. In his ongoing work, Dr. Richter is particularly interested in the design of fullerene derivatives with selected physical, chemical, and electronic properties. Henning is co-inventor of several patents and patent applications for the production, separation, and purification of fullerenic materials as well as their use in organic photovoltaics.