Publication date: 17th February 2025
The recent advances in increasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have been driven by the advent of new active organic materials and reduced performance losses associated with traditional cell structures. As the maximum PCE values of organic solar cells have now exceeded 20%, the importance of further cell engineering —including the bulk heterojunction, charge extraction interlayers, and light management — becomes critical and, in most cases, determines the overall performance. In this presentation, I will discuss our latest efforts to increase the efficiency of OPVs to well beyond 20%. I will show how the use of innovative charge-extracting interlayers can help increase the overall performance of the cells as well as their operating lifetime. Moreover, I will describe how using antireflection coatings and molecular dopants can help further enhance the PCE and show how their combination with innovative interlayers can improve overall material utilisation and device sustainability.