Solar Energy News  
SOLAR DAILY
Highly efficient organic solar cells with improved operation stability
by Staff Writers
Ulsan, South Korea (SPX) Oct 20, 2016


A joint research team, led by Professors HyeSung Park and Chang Duck Yang of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has developed a new kind of organic solar cell. The picture at right shows a OSC, fabricated on a flexible substrate. Image courtesy UNIST. For a larger version of this image please go here.

A new type of organic solar cells (OSCs) with 11.6% efficiency has been developed by a research team, affiliated with UNIST. This solar cell maintained almost 80% of its initial efficiency after 60 days long-term test under elevated temperatures up to 120 degrees.

In the study, the research team, led by Prof. HyeSung Park and Prof. Chang Duck Yang of Energy and Chemical Engineering has developed an effective and simple strategy to simutaneously improve and stablize the performance of OSCs by applying small amounts of the macromolecular additive to the photoactive layer in OSCs. This is a unique and unprecedented method, which applies the macromolecular additive to control the molecular weight.

The team reports that "The use of the macromolecular additive introduced in this study has great potential for broad applications with other OSC systems, which will accelerate the commercial viability of photovoltaic technology."

Organic solar cells (OSCs) are made of thin layers of organic materials with thickness in the 100 nanometer range. The light-absorbing material of OSCs, called the photoactive layers aborbs sunlight to generate electric charge carriers. The efficiency of OSCs are often affected by the materials added to the photoactive layers.

In this work, the research team introduced the first demonstration of the use of a well-known n-type conjugated polymer, as the 'macromolecular additive' into the photoactive layer of OSCs, and report a remarkable enhancement in the device performance yielding unprecedented power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.6% with improved stability.

Using the proposed method, they also demonstrated strong thermal stability in the additive-modified OSCs at elevated temperatures, as well as long-term operation stability. They reported that a stable PCE as high as 80% was still maintained after 60 days long-term operation under a high temperature environment (120?). In addition, by using the ITO-free architecture on flexible PET substrates, the team successfully demonstrated flexible solar cells processed with the macromolecular additive.

Prof. Park states, "Due to its great applicability and easy accessibility, the use of the macromolecular additive introduced in this study has great potential for broad applications with other OSC systems, which will accelerate the commercial viability of photovoltaic technology."

This study also includes the analysis of the optimization of power conversion efficiency in OSCs, the charge carrier transport properties in OSCs, as well as the changes in the morphology of the photoactive materials induced by the macromolecular additive. The research team attributes the improved performance to advantageous changes in the morphology of the photoactive materials induced by the macromolecular additive.

Prof. Yang notes, "Our research is important in showing the influence of molecular weight (MW) on power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs."

Kwang Hyun Park, Yujin An, Seungon Jung, Hyesung Park and Changduk Yang, "The use of n-type macromolecular additive as a simple yet effective tool for improving and stabilizing the performance of organic solar cells," Energy and Environmtal Science, (2016).


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
SOLAR DAILY
Midsummer receives new order for its DUO thin film solar cell manufacturing system
Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) Oct 12, 2016
Midsummer has received a repeat order for its compact DUO solar cell manufacturing system from an undisclosed Asian customer. This new order was received in connection with Midsummer's first system at the customer going into production with an efficiency of the solar cells of over 15 percent, which was 2 percentage points higher than the promised specification. Midsummer has received a rep ... read more


SOLAR DAILY
'Super yeast' has the power to improve economics of biofuels

Unraveling the science behind biomass breakdown

With designer lignin, biofuels researchers reproduced evolutionary path

Engineers transform brewery wastewater into energy storage

SOLAR DAILY
Soft robots that mimic human muscles

Anyone can chat with the White House... through a bot

Robot customs officers debut in South China ports

Tech giants race for edge in artificial intelligence

SOLAR DAILY
Prysmian Secures Contract for Offshore Wind Farm Inter-Array Submarine Cables Supply in Belgium

California eyes wind, wave potential

Wind turbines killing more than just local birds

Wind turbines a risk to birds living as far as 100 miles away

SOLAR DAILY
US judge 'strongly inclined' to back $15 bn VW settlement

Honda to build new China factory

Driverless taxi hits lorry in Singapore trial

Berlin tells Tesla: Stop ads with 'misleading' autopilot term

SOLAR DAILY
Inspiration from the ocean

New 3D design for mobile microbatteries

Scientists find static 'stripes' of electrical charge in copper-oxide superconductor

A new spin on superconductivity

SOLAR DAILY
Germany approves controversial nuclear waste deal

Anti-nuclear politician's win hurts Japan atomic push

Japan nuclear reactor shuttered for safety work

South Africa's nuclear programme kicked into touch, again

SOLAR DAILY
UNESCO urges Bangladesh to scrap Sundarbans plant

NREL releases new cost and performance data for electricity generation

Strong at the coast, weak in the cities - the German energy-transition patchwork

Europe ups energy security ante

SOLAR DAILY
Deforestation in Amazon going undetected by Brazilian monitors

'Goldilocks fires' can enhance biodiversity in Western forests

Urban warming slows tree growth, photosynthesis

Emissions from logging debris in Africa may be vastly under estimated









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.