Detailed balance limit of power conversion efficiency for organic photovoltaics

Journal Article · Mon Dec 16 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4852676· OSTI ID:22253683

Seki, Kazuhiko ^[1]; Furube, Akihiro ^[2]; Yoshida, Yuji ^[3]

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1. NRI, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), AIST Tsukuba Central 5, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565 (Japan)
2. RIIF, AIST Tsukuba Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan)
3. RCPVT, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), AIST Tsukuba Central 5, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565 (Japan)

A fundamental difference between inorganic photovoltaic (IPV) and organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells is that charges are generated at the interface in OPV cells, while free charges can be generated in the bulk in IPV cells. In OPV cells, charge generation involves intrinsic energy losses to dissociate excitons at the interface between the donor and acceptor. By taking into account the energy losses, we show the theoretical limits of the power conversion efficiency set by radiative recombination of the carriers on the basis of the detailed balance relation between radiation from the cell and black-body radiation.

• OSTI ID: 22253683
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 25; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
BLACKBODY RADIATION
CONVERSION
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY LOSSES
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT