Performance and Stability of Polymer Solar Cells Based on the Blends of Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) and Indene-C_(60) Bis-Adduct

The performance and morphology stability of polymer bulk heterojunetion solar cells based on poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） as the donor and indene-C6o bisadduct （ICBA） or methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester （PCBM） as the aeceptor are compared. Effect of the different donor and aeeeptor weight ratios on photo- voltaic performance of the P3HT：ICBA device is studied. The optimal device achieved power conversion emeiency of 5.51~o with dso of l0.86mA/cm2, Voc of 0.83 V, and fill factor （FF） of 61.1 % under AM 1.5G （lOOmW/cm2） simulated solar illumination. However, the stability measurement shows that cells based on P3HT：ICBA are less stable than those of the device based on P3HT：PCBM. Atomic force microscope results reveal that the morphol- ogy of the P3HT：ICBA film changed considerably during the storage periods due to unstable interpenetrating D-A network. This observation can be explained by the fact that there is lack of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the P3HT：ICBA system. However, in the P3HT：PCBM system the molecules in the blend film are firmly held together in the solid state by means of intermoleeular hydrogen bonds originating from C-H. ~. Os bonds （where Os comes from the singly-bonded 0 atom of PCBM）, forming a stable three-dimensional network. The measured PL decay lifetimes for P3HT：PCBM and P3HT：ICBA systems are 33.66 ns and 35.34 ns, respectively, indicating that the P3HT：ICBA system has a less efficient exciton separation eftleiency than that of P3HT：PCBM, which may result in the interracial photogenerated charges accumulated on the D： A interface. Such progressive phase segregation between P3HT and ICBA eventually leads to the degradation in performance and deteriorates the stability of the device. We also present an approach to enhance the stability of P3HT：ICBA systems by adding PCBM as the second acceptor. Our results show that by carefully tuning the contents of PCBM as the second acceptor, more stable polymer solar cells can be obtained.

The Temperature Variation of a Solar Cell in Relation to Its Performance

The temperature of a solar cell subjected to the incident global solar radiation as a function of the local day time is determined. A heat balance equation is solved considering the heat losses due to convection and thermal radiation. The cell efficiency is estimated as a measure of its performance. The results reveal that the temperature within the cell attains significant values. Nevertheless, the temperature dependence of its efficiency along the day time is not pronouncing. It slightly decreases with temperature.

Simulation design of P–I–N-type all-perovskite solar cells with high efficiency

According to the good charge transporting property of perovskite, we design and simulate a p–i–n-type all-perovskite solar cell by using one-dimensional device simulator. The perovskite charge transporting layers and the perovskite absorber constitute the all-perovskite cell. By modulating the cell parameters, such as layer thickness values, doping concentrations and energy bands of n-, i-, and p-type perovskite layers, the all-perovskite solar cell obtains a high power conversion efficiency of 25.84%. The band matched cell shows appreciably improved performance with widen absorption spectrum and lowered recombination rate, so weobtain a high J_（sc） of 32.47 m A/cm^2. The small series resistance of the all-perovskite solar cell also benefits the high J_（sc）. The simulation provides a novel thought of designing perovskite solar cells with simple producing process, low production cost and high efficient structure to solve the energy problem.

Composite Semiconductor Quantum Dots CdSe/CdS Co-sensitized TiO_2 Nanorod Array Solar Cells

CdSe/CdS semiconductor quantum dots co-sensitized TiO2 nanorod array was fabricated on the transparent conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide （FTO） substrate using the hydrothermal and successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction （SILAR） process. The structural and morphological properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, field-emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The results indicate that CdSe/CdS QDs are uniformly coated on the surface of the TiO2 nanorods. The shift of light absorption edge was monitored by taking UV-visible absorption spectra. Compared with the absorption spectra of the TiO2 nanorod array, deposition of CdSe/CdS QDs shifts the absorption edge to the higher wavelength. The enhanced light absorption in the visible-light region of CdSe/CdS/TiO2 nanorod array indicates that CdSe/CdS layers can act as co-sensitizers in quantum dots sensitized solar cells （QDSSCs）. By optimizing the CdSe layer deposition cycles, a photocurrent of 5.78 mA/cm2, an open circuit photovoltage of 0.469 V and a conversion efficiency of 1.34 % were obtained under an illumination of 100 mw/cm2.

Analysis of Effect of Zn(O,S) Buffer Layer Properties on CZTS Solar Cell Performance Using AMPS

The Cu2ZnSnS4 （CZTS）-based solar cell is numerically simulated by a one-dimensional solar cell simulation soft- ware analysis of microelectronic and photonic structures （AMPS-1D）. The device structure used in the simulation is Al/ZnO：Al/nZn（O,S）/pCZTS/Mo. The primary motivation of this simulation work is to optimize the composition in the ZnO1-xSx buffer layer, which would yield higher conversion efficiency. By varying S/（S＋O） ratio x, the conduction band offset （CBO） at CZTS/Zn（O,S） interface can range from -0.23 eV to 1.06eV if the full range of the ratio is considered. The optimal CBO of 0.23eV can be achieved when the ZnO1-xSx buffer has an S/（S＋O） ratio of 0.6. The solar cell efficiency first increases with increasing sulfur content and then decreases abruptly for x〉 0.6, which reaches the highest value of 17.55% by our proposed optimal sulfur content x= 0.6. Our results provide guidance in dealing with the ZnO1-xSx buffer layer deposition for high efficiency CZTS solar cells.

Influence of the layer parameters on the performance of the CdTe solar cells

Influence of the layer parameters on the performances of the CdTe solar cells is analyzed by SCAPS-1 D. The Zn O: Al film shows a high efficiency than SnO_2:F. Moreover, the thinner window layer and lower defect density of Cd S films are the factor in the enhancement of the short-circuit current density. As well, to increase the open-circuit voltage, the responsible factors are low defect density of the absorbing layer CdTe and high metal work function. For the low cost of cell production, ultrathin film CdTe cells are used with a back surface field(BSF) between CdTe and back contact, such as PbTe. Further, the simulation results show that the conversion efficiency of 19.28% can be obtained for the cell with 1-μm-thick CdTe, 0.1-μm-thick PbTe and 30-nm-thick CdS.

Radiation effect on the optical and electrical properties of CdSe(In)/p-Si heteroj unction photovoltaic solar cells

The efficiency and radiation resistance of solar cells are graded.They are then fabricated in the form of n-CdeSe（In）/p-Si heterojunction cells by electron beam evaporation of a stoichiomteric mixture of CdSe and In to make a thin film on a p-Si single crystal wafer with a thickness of 100μm and a resistivity of～1.5Ω·cm at a temperature of 473 K.The short-circuit current density（jsc）,open-circuit voltage（Voc）,fill factor（ff） and conversion efficiency（η） under 100 mW/cm^2（AMI） intensity,are 20 mA/cm^2,0.49 V,0.71 and 6%respectively. The cells were exposed to different electron doses（electron beam accelerator of energy 1.5 MeV,and beam intensity 25 mA）.The cell performance parameters are measured and discussed before and after gamma and electron beam irradiation.

Novel organic dye sensitizers containing fluorenyl and biphenyl moieties for solar cells

Three novel triarylamine dyes（AFL1-AFL3） containing fluorenyl and the biphenyl moieties have been designed and synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cells.The light-harvesting capabilities and photovoltaic performance of these dyes were investigated systematically through comparison of different π-bridges.The dye with a furan linker exhibited a higher open-circuit voltage（VOC） and monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency（IPCE） compared to thiophene and benzene linker.Thus,AFL3 containing a furan linker exhibited the maximum overall conversion efficiency of 5.81%（VOC = 760 mV,JSC = 11.36 mA cm^-2 and ff=0.68） under standard global AM 1.5 G solar condition.

Electrochemical methods for the characterization and interfacial study of dye-sensitized solar cell

Dye-sensitized solar cell （DSSC） is one of the most rapidly developed solar cells in the past 20 years. Many characterization methods have been employed for further understanding the operational details of the photo- electric conversion in DSSC as well as the evaluation of cell performance. Electrochemical methods have become pow- erful tools for studying the charge transfer and interfacial process. In this review, we introduce and explain the various electrochemical methods used to characterize and analyze DSSC, including current-voltage （I-V） scan measurement, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spec- troscopy, intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy, and intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy. In ad- dition, some applications were provided as samples to elucidate electron transfer kinetics, energy levels and electrocatalytic activity of the materials used in DSSC.

Organic sensitizers with different thiophene units as conjugated bridges:molecular engineering and photovoltaics

Three structural modifications with incorporation of alkyl,alkoxy and vinyl bond into the skeleton of thiophene bridge in D-π-A featured organic sensitizers are specifically developed for insight into their influences on photophysical,electrochemical as well as photovoltaic properties in nanocrystalline TiO_2-based dye sensitized solar cells(DSSCs).The insertion of vinyl bond into the conjugation bridge leads to the molecular planar configuration,and the conjugation bridge of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene(EDOT)is prone to positively shift its highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO).The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)results indicate that the grafted long alkyl chain onto thiophene is favorable to suppress dye aggregation when adsorbed onto TiO_2film and modification on interface of TiO_2/dye/electrolyte,resulting in a relatively high open-circuit voltage(V_(oc)).Under optimized conditions,dye LS-4 bearing hexylthiophene as the conjugation bridge shows a relatively high overall conversion efficiency of5.45%,with a photocurrent of 11.61 mA cm^(-2),V_(oc)of 744 mV.