Nästa generation organiska solceller (OPV 2.0)

Forskningsprojekt, 2017 – 2022

With current efficiencies of organic solar cells exceeding 11%, traditional strengths of these ‘plastic’ devices like flexibility and low financial and energy costs are getting complemented by relevant performances. Our target is to pursue both evolutionary and disruptive strategies to take organic solar cell efficiencies significantly beyond current state of the art. To achieve these goals we will work on 3 topical areas. Photovoltaic (PV) devices, where we focus on non-fullerene binary systems with optimized spectral overlap and reduced voltage loss. As photovoltaic devices are inherently inefficient in the infrared (IR) region, and strongly warm up under operation, we will explore thermoelectric (TE) systems to convert IR and heat into electrical power. Here, focus is on thermally charged ionic supercapacitors and n-type materials for organic thermogenerators. Integration into modules of PV and TE devices in the later part of the project will lead to truly broadband solar harvesters. Here, we use the unique processability of organic materials that allows to build multilayered devices by low-cost solution processing.Our consortium builds on the very strong Swedish communities on organic solar cells and thermoelectrics. This project will catalyze the creation of a world-wide unique research environment by joining these forces. We will extend the annual ‘Swedish OPV meeting’, running for over 20 years, into a research school with joint courses for students and yearly schools.