Proceedings of Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics (ABXPV16)
Publication date: 14th December 2015
One of the revolutionary aspects of third generation photovoltaics is the possibility of being printed. This characteristic allows envisaging, for the near future, the use of traditional printing techniques, by to roll-to-roll methods, for cheap industrial production. From a comparison with inorganic semiconductor technology, it is evident that the economic viability of the printing processes resides in less expensive machinery/process, since it does not require high vacuum or high temperature, and their high throughput. Nevertheless, a huge work still must be done in order to develop a completely reliable industrial process.
Eurecat, through its Functional Printing and Embedded Devices Technological Unit, is expert in printed electronics and possesses wide knowledge about different printing technologies like inkjet printing, screen printing and slot-die coating. The labs located at Mataró (Barcelone) are provided with roll-to-roll equipment for slot-die coating and screen printing. With such systems, pre‑industrial processes are being developed with the objective to provide industrial companies with knowledge that enable them to enter a new market. One of our research lines is focused on organic solar cells (OSC) based on the known P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction system, which allows to perform “large area” experiments with a relatively limited cost. Functional modules have been developed and tested in real urban environment in the framework of a Spanish project called Enerciudad.
On the one hand, the developed process is applicable also to other more efficient organic semiconductor systems which we preview to begin to investigate during the next year. On the other hand, the deposition process can also be employed to print other photovoltaic technologies like for example perovskite-based devices. For roll-to-roll processability, a few limitations must always be taken into account, being curing temperature, curing time and atmosphere exposure the most important ones.