Large area monolithic organic solar cells

Although efficiencies of > 10% have recently been achieved in laboratory-scale organic solar cells, these competitive performance figures are yet to be translated to large active areas and geometries relevant for viable manufacturing. One of the factors hindering scale-up is a lack of knowledge of device physics at the sub-module level, particularly cell architecture, electrode geometry and current collection pathways. A more in depth understanding of how photocurrent and photovoltage extraction can be optimised over large active areas is urgently needed. Another key factor suppressing conversion efficiencies in large area cells is the relatively high sheet resistance of the transparent conducting anode - typically indium tin oxide. Hence, to replace ITO with alternative transparent conducting anodes is also a high priority on the pathway to viable module-level organic solar cells. In our paper we will focus on large area devices relevant to sub-module scales – 5 cm × 5 cm monolithic geometry. We have applied a range of experimental techniques to create a more comprehensive understanding of the true device physics that could help make large area, monolithic organic solar cells more viable. By employing this knowledge, a novel transparent anode consisting of molybdenum oxide (MoOx) and silver (Ag) is developed to replace ITO and PEDOT-free large area solar cell sub-modules, acting as both a transparent window and hole-collecting electrode. The proposed architecture and anode materials are well suited to high throughput, low cost all-solution processing.