US-based Polyera has developed an inverted bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell with a power conversion efficiency of 9.1%.
The company developed the demonstrator to promote its organic photovoltaic (OPV) materials, targeting companies and organisations commercialising printed polymer PV. The active layer inks are being marketed under the trade name ActivInk PV.
According to Polyera founder and CTO Antonio Facchetti, inverted cell architecture designs for printed polymer cells are critical for industrialising production of these devices.
Inverted cell architectures
Inverting the cell geometry - so that holes and electrons generated in the active layer exit the device in the opposite direction, as they would do within conventional polymer PV cell device architectures - removes the need for the back electrode to function as the negative electrode.
In a conventional polymer PV cell structure this consists of a low work-function reactive metal, which oxidises unless capped, and a suitable encapsulation layer applied to improve operational lifetime.
Polyera's active-layer PV materials can also be deposited using a broader range of film thicknesses without lowering cell efficiency. This leads to improvements in yields and can further simplify manufacturing.
Displays
The ActivInk PV materials can be processed at low enough temperatures to be compatible with a wide range of simple printing processes and plastic film substrates made from PET.
Polyera is a materials supplier, and develops cells and devices to show partners and clients how well its materials perform. At its Taiwan lab, however, the company is working on several display demonstrators with partners. Later in 2012 the company expects to announce progress in the field of flexible displays, with a large company from the Asian displays industry.
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Polyera
US supplier of materials to the printed electronics industry
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