BEIJING – Chinese scientists have achieved a historic 17.3 percent powerconversion efficiency on organic solar cells, marking a step forward in thewide application of the green battery.
Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) are made from carbon-based materials thatare light, soft and semi-transparent. They can be printed on thin rolls ofplastic and are more environmentally-friendly than traditionalsilicon-based solar panels.
However, organic photovoltaics are less efficient at converting sunlight toelectricity, meaning lower power conversion efficiency.
The new study, led by Chen Yongsheng from Nankai University in northChina’s Tianjin, proved that the organics have the potential to be just asefficient as silicon.
“Low charge mobility of organic materials limited the active layerthickness and light absorption efficiency,” Chen said. His team used tandemcells, which are put together by different layers of organic materials, toaddress the problem.
“Different layers of the tandem cells can absorb different wavelengths oflight. That means you can use sunlight more effectively and achieve ahigher power conversion rate,” Chen said.
With further optimization of the materials, it is expected that the OPVscan achieve similar power conversion efficiency as traditional solarpanels, according to the researchers. – Agencies