Plastic solar cells have efficient structures

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 05 Jul 2011

A research team from the UK has found that solar cells made using simple and inexpensive manufacturing tools by depositing flexible layers of material are deposited over large areas that efficient cell structures are achievable.

In the study, the results of which have been recently published in Advanced Energy Materials, scientists from universities including Sheffield and Cambridge used advanced equipment - the ISIS Neutron Source and Diamond Light Source at the Science & Technologies Facilities Council Rutherford Appleton Laboratory - to establish the results of monitoring polymer solar cells.

The study showed that when complex mixtures of molecules in solution are spread onto a surface, by coating or for example, the different molecules separate to the top and bottom of the layer, which then maximises the efficiency of the resulting solar cell.

According to Andrew Parnell of the University of Sheffield: 'Our results provide insight into how ultra-cheap solar energy panels for domestic and industrial use can be made on a large scale.

'Rather than using complex and expensive fabrication methods to create a specific semiconductor nanostructure, high-volume printing could be used to produce nano-scale films of solar cells.'

Properties

The combined use of neutron and X-ray scattering sources allowed the scientists to probe the internal structure and properties of the solar cell materials non-destructively, and explore how different processing steps change the polymer solar cell's efficiency and affect performance.

Bright X-rays using instruments at Diamond Light Source were used to study the crystallinity of the material and neutrons at ISIS were used to examine the material's composition profile.

The research was funded by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). A new grant has been awarded to the team to carry out further studies into the structure and function of polymer solar cell materials. The researchers will also examine new materials, and innovative processes for high-volume manufacture and future commercialisation.

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