ITO-Free Transparent Organic Solar Cell with Distributed Bragg Reflector for Solar Harvesting Windows

Yuelin Peng, Lushuai Zhang, Nongyi Cheng and Trisha L. Andrew
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Yuelin Peng: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Lushuai Zhang: Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Nongyi Cheng: Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Trisha L. Andrew: Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: We demonstrated an indium tin oxide (ITO)-free, highly transparent organic solar cell with the potential to be integrated into window panes for energy harvesting purposes. A transparent, conductive ZnO/Ag/ZnO multilayer electrode and a Ag:Ca thin film electrode were used in this transparent device as the bottom and top electrode, respectively. To further improve the transmittance of the solar cell, the thickness of the top ZnO layer was investigated both experimentally and with simulations. An average visible transmittance of >60% was reached, with a maximum transmittance of 73% at 556 nm. Both top and bottom illumination of the solar cell generated comparable power conversion efficiencies, which indicates the wide application of this solar cell structure. In addition, we fabricated distributed Bragg reflector mirrors with sputtered SiO 2 and TiO 2 , which efficiently increased the power conversion efficiency over 20% for the solar cells on glass and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates.

Keywords: transparent electrode; organic photovoltaic; distributed Bragg reflector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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