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Processing and preparation of polymer and organic solar cells
ARTICLE IN PRESS Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 93 (2009) 393
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solmat
Guest editorial
Processing and preparation of polymer and organic solar cells
Polymer and organic solar cells are at the brink of commercialization and the first examples of commercially available products where polymer solar cells supply power to small applications are expected shortly. While current views of the technology are many, there is a general consensus that the technology is ready for the niche market whereas polymer solar cells for on-grid electrical energy production might be possible in the future. In order to meet an ambitious goal such as polymer solar cells for niche applications, an exemplification where the unification challenge is met will be needed (a given materials combination that allows for a sufficient efficiency, stability and process/cost). Both efficiency and stability have been addressed in the past through special issues and articles but the processing and processing techniques have not been dealt with in any great detail. The ambition with this issue was to facilitate processing of polymer solar cells by focus on the techniques and methods that are available but perhaps not so commonly explored in the context of polymer solar cells where spin-coating has been used almost exclusively as a film forming technique. The communities have welcomed this
0927-0248/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2008.12.008
initiative as evidenced by many original contributions spanning from an overview of the possibilities through many different film forming techniques such as spray coating, knife coating, slot-die coating, gravure coating, screen printing and pad printing. In addition, an account of the first public demonstration and free distribution of industrially manufactured polymer solar cells is also presented along with methodologies to improve operational lifetime and cost through processing of different metal electrodes whereby the problematic indium-tin-oxide is avoided. This issue presents the processing and large-scale manufacturing of polymer solar cells and is meant to serve as a source of reference to those generally interested in polymer and organic solar cells.
Associate Editor Frederik C. Krebs Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark E-mail address: [email protected]
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solmat
Guest editorial
Processing and preparation of polymer and organic solar cells
Polymer and organic solar cells are at the brink of commercialization and the first examples of commercially available products where polymer solar cells supply power to small applications are expected shortly. While current views of the technology are many, there is a general consensus that the technology is ready for the niche market whereas polymer solar cells for on-grid electrical energy production might be possible in the future. In order to meet an ambitious goal such as polymer solar cells for niche applications, an exemplification where the unification challenge is met will be needed (a given materials combination that allows for a sufficient efficiency, stability and process/cost). Both efficiency and stability have been addressed in the past through special issues and articles but the processing and processing techniques have not been dealt with in any great detail. The ambition with this issue was to facilitate processing of polymer solar cells by focus on the techniques and methods that are available but perhaps not so commonly explored in the context of polymer solar cells where spin-coating has been used almost exclusively as a film forming technique. The communities have welcomed this
0927-0248/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2008.12.008
initiative as evidenced by many original contributions spanning from an overview of the possibilities through many different film forming techniques such as spray coating, knife coating, slot-die coating, gravure coating, screen printing and pad printing. In addition, an account of the first public demonstration and free distribution of industrially manufactured polymer solar cells is also presented along with methodologies to improve operational lifetime and cost through processing of different metal electrodes whereby the problematic indium-tin-oxide is avoided. This issue presents the processing and large-scale manufacturing of polymer solar cells and is meant to serve as a source of reference to those generally interested in polymer and organic solar cells.
Associate Editor Frederik C. Krebs Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark E-mail address: [email protected]