Efficient Hybrid Amorphous Silicon/Organic Tandem Solar Cells Enabled by Near-Infrared Absorbing Nonfullerene Acceptors

Joel Troughton, Sebastian Neubert, Nicola Gasparini, Diego Rosas Villalva, Jules Bertrandie, Akmaral Seitkhan, Sri Harish Kumar Paleti, Anirudh Sharma, Michele de Bastiani, Erkan Aydin, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, Stefaan De Wolf, Rutger Schlatmann, Derya Baran

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Monolithically stacked tandem solar cells present opportunities to absorb more of the sun's radiation while reducing the degree of energetic loss through thermalization. In these applications, the bandgap of the tandem's constituent subcells must be carefully adjusted so as to avoid competition for photons. Organic photovoltaics based on nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) have recently exploded in popularity owing to the ease with which their electrical and optical properties can be tuned through chemistry. Here, highly complementary and efficient 2-terminal tandem solar cells are reported based on a wide bandgap amorphous silicon absorber, and a narrow bandgap NFA bulk-heterojunction with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) exceeding 15%. Interface engineering of this tandem device allows for high PCEs across a wide range of light intensities both above and below “1 sun.” Furthermore, the addition of an inorganic silicon subcell enhances the operational stability of the tandem by reducing the light-stress experienced by the bulk heterojunction, resolving a long-standing stumbling block in organic photovoltaic research.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2100166
JournalAdvanced Energy Materials
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 30 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-05-05
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079, OSR-CARF URF/1/3079-33-01, OSR-2018-KAUST-KAU Initiative-3902
Acknowledgements: J.T. would like to thank Dr. Xin Song for valuable discussions surround organic photovoltaic device fabrication. This publication is based upon work supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award numbers “KAUST OSR-CARF URF/1/3079-33-01,” “OSR-2018-CARF/CCF-3079,” and “OSR-2018-KAUST-KAU Initiative-3902.”

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Materials Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Efficient Hybrid Amorphous Silicon/Organic Tandem Solar Cells Enabled by Near-Infrared Absorbing Nonfullerene Acceptors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this