Polymer tandem solar cells

A polymer tandem solar cell with 10.6% power conversion efhciency. Nat. Commun. 4,1446. 

V.S. Gevaerts, et al. Solution processed polymer tandem solar cell using efficient small and wide bandgap polymer fullerene blends. Advanced Materials, 2012 p. 1-5. 

Recent progress of naphthalimide-based dendrimers 12CJO304. Recent trends in polymer tandem solar cells research 13PPS1909. Rod—coil and all-conjugated block copolymers for photovoltaic applications 13PPS791. 

You J, Dou L, Yoshimura K et al (2013) A polymer tandem solar cell with 10.6 % power conversion efficiency. Nat Commun (4) 1446... 

Several excellent reviews exist on polymer tandem solar cells and we refer to these publications for a comprehensive overview. In this chapter we focus on the materials requirements for creating efficient polymer solar cells and intermediate contact layers. In the following paragraphs, we will outline the operational principles in more detail. We will then review the most important photoactive materials used in polymer multi-junction cells and outline the material combinations that can used for the recombination layer. We conclude with an overview of recent achievements that have pushed the efficiency to well over 10% and address the progress in processing of large area tandem polymer solar cells. 

Figure 11.6 Device layout and EQE of a polymer tandem solar cell measured with appropriate optical and electrical bias. The graph clearly shows the complementary spectral contributions of the two subcells. Reproduced from ref. 49 with permission from Wiley.

Figure 11.12 Device structure of the polymer tandem solar cells with PEDOT PSS (PHIOOO) modified by PEIE as the recombination layer. Reproduced from ref. 67.

J. Gilot, Polymer tandem solar cells, PhD thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, 2010, ISBN 978-90-386-2279-8. 

T. T. Larsen-Olsen, T. R. Andersen, B. Andreasen, A. P. L. Bottiger, E. Bundgaard, K. Norrman, J. W. Andreasen, M. Jorgensen and F. C. Krebs, Roll-to-roll processed polymer tandem solar cells partially processed from water, Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells, 2012,97, 43-49. 

As we have seen, the tandem architecture represents a valuable path to increasing the efficiency of polymer tandem solar cells. However, this complex structure, where two subcells are optically and electrically connected, also represents a challenge when it comes to the correct characterization... 

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