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Stability study of thermal cycling on organic solar cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2018

Harrison Ka Hin Lee ,
James R. Durrant ,
Zhe Li  and
Wing Chung Tsoi
Harrison Ka Hin Lee
Affiliation:
SPECIFIC, College of Engineering, Bay Campus, Swansea University, Swansea, SA1 8EN, U.K.
James R. Durrant
Affiliation:
SPECIFIC, College of Engineering, Bay Campus, Swansea University, Swansea, SA1 8EN, U.K.; and Department of Chemistry, Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, U.K.
Zhe Li*
Affiliation:
SPECIFIC, College of Engineering, Bay Campus, Swansea University, Swansea, SA1 8EN, U.K.; and School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, U.K.
Wing Chung Tsoi*
Affiliation:
SPECIFIC, College of Engineering, Bay Campus, Swansea University, Swansea, SA1 8EN, U.K.
*
a)Address all correspondence to these authors. e-mail: liz75@cardiff.ac.uk
b)e-mail: w.c.tsoi@swansea.ac.uk
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Abstract

We present a side-by-side comparison of the stability of three different types of benchmark solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs), subject to thermal cycling stress conditions. We study the in situ performance during 5 complete thermal cycles between −100 and 80 °C and find that all the device types investigated exhibit superior stability, albeit with a distinct temperature dependence of device efficiency. After applying a much harsher condition of 50 thermal cycles, we further affirm the robustness of the OSC against thermal cycling stress. Our results suggest that OSCs could be a promising candidate for applications with large variations and rapid change in the operating temperature such as outer space applications. Also, a substantial difference in the efficiency drops from high to low temperature for different systems is observed. It suggests that maintaining optimum performance with minimal variations with operating temperature is a key challenge to be addressed for such photovoltaic applications.

Keywords

organicphotovoltaicthermal stresses
Type
Invited Article
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 33 , Issue 13: Focus Issue: Stabilization of Organic Electronic Materials and Devices , 14 July 2018 , pp. 1902 - 1908
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2018 

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