Organic Solar Cells

Samtel Centre for Display Technologies

S. Sundar Kumar Iyer

1
Outline

Motivation
■ Solar cells
■ Organic solar cells

Background
■ Working of organic solar cell
■ Fabrication steps

Research at IIT K
■ Molecule, device, circuit and system level

2
Clean Energy Supply Needed for Quality of Life

Fossil and nuclear fuels are costly

■ If we include the environmental cost

The sun shines on everyone
■ Ideal for distributed power generation and remote locations

Tap solar energy directly
■ Ideal for distributed power generation
■ More environmentally friendly

3
 Annual Mean Global Irradiance

On a horizontal plane at the surface of the earth W m-2 averaged over 24 h

With 10% efficient solar cell area of solar cell needed in 2004
India 60 km × 60 km (0.12% area) 4
World need: 350 km × 350 km
History

1839 Photovoltaic effect discovered by Edmond Becquerel

1954 First Silicon Solar Cell Bell Lab by Chapin, Fuller and Pearson
η∼6%)
(η∼6%)

1970s Surge in research to harness solar energy

1986 Heterojunction Organic Solar Cell by Tang of Eastman Kodak

2007 Highest efficiency solar cells with η~40.7% in Spectrolab

A big surge in solar cells research & development is underway

5
 The Birth of Silicon Photovoltaics

Efficiency η ≈ 6 %

1mm

Chapin et al. 1954 6

 Space Applications

www.spacetoday.org

marsrovers.nasa.gov

Photovoltaics are the mainstay 7

Remote Locations

Photovoltaics
are attractive

www.dacres.org

summitclimb.com
web.worldbank.org 8
Consumer Electronics

9
 Grid Supply

Need to make photovoltaics

attractive in the marketplace

www.sun-consult.de

www.e2tac.org
10
 Solar Energy Usage and Pricing

Solar markets Solar Price/Competing

(average of last 5 years) Energy source

Remote Industrial 17% 0.1-0.5 times

Remote Habitation 22% 0.2-0.8 times
Grid Connected 59% 2-5 times
Consumer Indoor 2% n/a

Solar Energy: 30 c (Rs. 12) per kWh

Need to lower cost to 10c (Rs.4) per kWh and below

http://www.solarbuzz.com/StatsCosts.htm (2006 data; accessed 29.02.2008) 11

 Electricity Generation Cost

Energy Source Cost

Combined cycle gas turbine 3 ¢ -5 ¢ (Rs.1.20-Rs.2.00)

Wind 4 ¢ -7 ¢ (Rs.1.60-Rs.2.80)

Biomass gasification 7 ¢ -9 ¢ (Rs.2.80-Rs.3.60)

Remote diesel generation 20 ¢ -40 ¢ (Rs.8.00-Rs.16.00)

Solar PV central station 20 ¢ -30 ¢ (Rs.8.00-Rs.12.00)

Solar PV Distributed 20 ¢ -50 ¢ (Rs.8.00-Rs.20.00)

http://www.solarbuzz.com/StatsCosts.htm (2006 data; accessed 29.02.2008) 12

 Solar Energy Production and Price

R.M. Margolis 2003 13

 Cost Breakdown of Silicon Photovoltaics

Module Cell Processing

35% 25%

Silicon Wafer
40%

Data from A. Rohatgi 14

 Lowering Cost of Solar Cells

Thin Film Solar Cells

■ Multiple junction solar cells (a-Si:H, a-SiGe:H)
■ CdTe based cells (CdTe, CdS)
■ CuInSe2 (CIS) Ternary & Multinary compound solar cells
■ Multicrystalline/Microcrystalline silicon solar cells
■ Thin film GaAs solar cells
■ Organic solar cells

S. Deb 2004 15
Efficiency of PV for Different Materials

Spectrolab 40.7%

Organics Photovoltaic
Zweibel et al. 2004 16
Why Organic Solar Cells?

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High-Throughput and Low-Cost Processing

Printing
■ Screen Pringing
■ Stamping

Spraying

Spin Coating

Vaporisation

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Flexible Solar Cells

Flexible Surfaces

Conformal Surfaces

Example show is a
Prof. Kippelen’s Group; Georgia Tech
CIGS solar Cells
19
Eco-Friendly Technology

Appropriate Process

Biodegradable Molecule

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Background

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 Efficiency of a Solar Cell
hν
I
Fill Factor FF is the ratio of
p n
area of maximum rectangle
fitted in the 4th quadrant I-V
V
RL
I and the product of VOC and ISC
Dark

Maximum Power Output
Light
Pmax = VOC × ISC × FF
VOC V
Efficiency
I (mA)

Pmax
η=
Max Incident Optical Power
Power
ISC Rectangle

22
S.M.Sze 1991 V (V)
 Classic p-n Junction Photovoltaic Cell

Inorganic Semiconductor
hν > Eg= Ec - Ev hν

e-
Ec
Efn Ef

Ev Efp φbi
h+
n-type p-type
-ve Ebuilt-in +ve

• Incident photon immediately forms mobile electrons and holes

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 Organic Solar Cells Operation

A Heterojunction Organic Solar Cell Structure

Anode Hole Transport Electron Transport Cathode

Layer Layer

hν e-
e-

Exciton by diffusion

e-+
h h+

Photon Absorption Exciton Formation Exciton Diffusion

Charge Transport & Collection EHP Formation Exciton Dissociation24

 Photovoltaic Process In Organic Solar Cells

Coupling Absorption Creation Separation


Collection
Sunlight

Creation
of sunlight of of of charges of charges
of
into incident ‘free’ by built-in at
excitons
solar cell photons charges E field electrodes

Light Photons
Excitons Charges Charges
Reflected Not
Recombine Recombine Recombine
Away Absorbed

    

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 Device Fabrication

-
Metal Deposition
Al -
Ca
Al
Ca Active Layer
Deposition
Active Layer
PEDOT:PSS

ITO PEDOT:PSS Coating

Transparent Glass Substrate
+ Contacts
+ + + ITO Patterning

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Highest Efficiency Reported OSC Till Date
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 317 13 JULY 2007 pp. 223-225

Tandem Cell: Jsc = 7.8 mA cm-2, Voc = 1.24 V, FF = 0.67 and η = 6.5%

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Organic Solar Cell Work at IIT K

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The Team

Prof. Satyendra Kumar (Physics)

Dr. Ashish Garg (MME)

Prof. Baquer Mazhari (EE)

Prof. R. Gurunath (Chemistry)

Dr. S.P. Das (EE)

Dr. P.S. Sensarma (EE)

Dr. R.S. Anand (EE)

Dr. Vibha Tripathi (EE)

Prof. Y.N. Mohapatra, Prof. Deepak Gupta, Prof. Monica Katiyar,
Dr. Siddhartha Panda, Dr. Narain, …

S. Sundar Kumar Iyer 29
The Processing Laboratory
ISO 6, 220 m2

30
Characterisation Facilities

31
Three Pronged Approach

Increasing efficiency of device

■ Physics and circuit model of organic solar cells
■ Choice of Material
■ Structure – Blend, Bilayer, Tandem …
■ Process Optimisation

Reliability and Stability
■ Choice of Material
■ Mechanism of Degradation
■ Encapsulation Techniques

New & emerging technology issues
■ Novel methods of fabrication
■ System level issues 32
 Organic Solar Cell Model
Vint I
D2 RS

Rs, int.
+
D1

IP Ddark RSH V

Rshunt, int.
-

New Model
RS I

IL is a function of voltage +
RSH V

Exciton generation IP is a constant IL
-
33
B. Mazhari 2006 Traditional Model
 Optical Efficiency ηO

 
Optical losses maybe due to

n0=1 for air ■ Reflection at the surface 

n1, κ ■ Unabsorbed light leaking out 
Device
Solutions
Back electrode ■ Anti Reflection Coating (ARC)
■ Texturing the top surface
ηO = 1-R where
■ Concentrators
)2
(n1-n0 + κ2
R= ■ Thickness of layers
(n1+n0) + κ2
ni : refractive index of medium i
κ: attenuation coefficient in device 34
 Light Trapping by TiO2 Nanoparticles

100 100 TiO2 particle is dispersed in P3HT-PCBM-TiO2_40

the P3HT:PCBM blend
90
P3HT:PCBM
80 80
Reflectance (%)

70 P3HT:PCBM + TiO2
Reflectance(%)

60 60
50
 
40 40
30
Device
20 20
10 Back electrode

0 0
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
300 500 700 900
(nm)
λλ (nm) 35
Jyoti Singh 2008
 Cathode Variation
Al
Active Area Ca
ITO
Current Density (mA cm-2)

Glass

Voltage (V)

Illumination:
AM1.5D 100 mW cm-2

36
Nitin Sahai 2008
 Effect of Post Process Anneal
P3HT: PCBM Blend Aluminium Cathode
Heterostructure Polymer Blend
PEDOT:PSS
Glass ITO

37
Vinod Pagare 2007
 Degradation Models

Degradation under Electrical & Optical Stress

• Statistically arrive at parameters that matter most

• Identify the physics of degradation
• Use learning to increase device lifetime

38
Munish Jassi 2006
Summary

Organic solar cells offers unique opportunities in future

■ Low-cost high volume production
■ Distributed production
■ Environmentally benign devices

Work at IIT Kanpur
■ Molecule and material level
■ Process
■ Device level
■ Circuit level
■ System level
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Let us make Organic Solar Cells Happen!

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