Courtney Klosterman Presentation
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Solar Energy: Organic Photovoltaics Courtney Klosterman Case Western Reserve University Physics Department REU Summer Program
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Transcript of Courtney Klosterman Presentation
Solar Energy: Organic Photovoltaics
Courtney KlostermanCase Western Reserve University Physics Department
REU Summer Program
Outline of Presentation
• Big Picture Problem• Background: Silicon/Organic Solar Cells• What I’m looking at: Structures and
Calculations• Goal• Matching Calculations• Future Work
Big Picture Problem
• Solar cells are much more expensive to produce than petroleum and coal
• Prevents their widespread use to generate electricity
• Most solar cells today are made of silicon in different states: crystalline, multicrystalline or amorphoushttp://www.devicedaily.com
Silicon Solar Cells• In semiconductor photovoltaics, a pn-junction is formed by
bringing together doped p-type and n-type materials• Recombination at the junction creates a depletion region with
a large built-in electric field
• Electrons/holes are created when a photon is absorbed, and if in the depletion region, will be pushed in opposite directions by the electric field.
Organic Solar Cells• Organic solar cells are of interest
due to their cheaper fabrication, installation and materials costs. However, they have lower efficiencies.
• The polymers poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) and Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) are mixed together to form an interpenetrating network of p and n type material called a bulk heterojunction.
http://riekemetals.thomasnet.com
http://www.livescience.com
http://www.phys.tue.
Organic Solar Cells• When a photon is absorbed, an exciton, a bound electron-
hole pair is created. • When the exciton reaches an interface between the p and
n-type materials, charge is transferred which breaks the exciton and allows charge to be extracted to the electrodes. • In a bulk
heterojunction the distance the electron-hole pair has to travel to an interface is minimized, which optimizes the absorbance and minimizes recombination of electrons and holes
The Main Problem
Exciton Diffusion length=10 nm
Optimal absorbance thickness=200 nm
Structures• Calculations using transfer matrix theory show a significant change in
absorption of the solar spectrum depending on the thickness of the polymer and the front electrode.
• The absorption peak would be optimized around 50nm layer thickness of the polymer photovoltaic.
• Similar to a laser cavity effect called frequency pulling
ITO, PV, no cavity effect ITO, PV, Al
Absorbing Layer Thickness (nm)
Wav
elen
gth
(nm
)
50 100 150 200 250300
400
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600
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0
0.1
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1
Absorbing Layer Thickness (nm)
Wav
elen
gth
(nm
)
50 100 150 200 250300
400
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600
700
800
900
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
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1
Structures• This device, if realized experimentally could show that the light
absorption and the efficiency will be higher with a thinner active layer. The efficiency improvement arises in large part because at 60nm active layer thickness there would be less recombination.
GOAL
• Verify the calculations that thinner samples can absorb as much as very thick samples depending on the thickness of the front electrode for regular and inverted structures
LET’S DO IT!
How we make slides• Use commercial ITO glass, or Sputter-coat ITO• Mix Polymers together, dissolve well• Spin coat polymers at various speeds• Evaporate Aluminum or Sputter-coat Silver
Sputter-coater Some finished Samples Evaporator
Silver, PV, ITO
400 600 8000
20
40
60
80
100
56.0 56.0 85.7 76.7 76.7 36.3
% R
Wavelengths (nm)
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 8000
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Wavelengths nm
% R
56.0
85.7
76.7
36.3
• These samples were made with sputtered Silver 65.6 nm thick, spin coated polymer, and sputtered ITO 101.3 nm thick
• Some of these graphs have features that match up nicely, but thicker silver is desired
Our ITO, PV, Silver
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 8000
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
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90
100
72.5
115.3
42.7
73.3
73.7 no silver
• These samples were made with sputtered ITO 68.3 nm thick, spin coated polymer, and sputtered Silver 83.3 nm thick.
• The data vs. the calculations do not match up quite nicely, except for some bigger features. Could be an oddity in the ITO used
400 600 8000
20
40
60
80
100 72.5 115.7 42.7 73.7 73.3 no silver
% R
Wavelengths (nm)
Commercial ITO, PV, Silver
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 8000
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Wavelengths nm%
R
74.7
97.5
66.1
124.5
• These samples were made by Commercial ITO 100nm thick, spin coated polymers, and sputtered Silver 83.3 nm thick on top.
• Here, the red line (66.1 nm thick PV layer) shows the big features of the calculations. This is significant because it is absorbing more light out at longer wavelengths.
400 600 8000
20
40
60
80
100
74.7 97.4 66.1 124.5
% R
Wavelengths (nm)
How does it further the big picture?
• Since the exiton has less room for recombination, it will more likely create work and thus give these organic solar cells greater efficiencies.
• With greater efficiencies, organic solar cells could be mass produced
• If more samples of the thinner PV can be made to match the calculations, then each different structure will absorb more light.
What’s next?• Make in Glove boxes• More structures with
Bilayer• Look at electrical
properties
• Find parameters that give good absorption and electrical properties
Glove Box System at Ohio State
Organic Solar Cell IV Curvehttp://deibel.files.wordpress.com
Acknowledgements
• Kenneth D. Singer• Brent Valle• National Science Foundation• Clips/SOURCE
QUESTIONS?
