European ‘World Record’ Efficiency For Organic PV Cell

• Researchers at the Fraunhofer ISE and FMF at the University of Freiburg have announced a new 'world record' efficiency for OSC
• The 15.8% efficiency on 1 cm² area is an improvement over 14.9% the duo reported in September 2020
• Team used anti-reflection coating and an in-house developed sputtering process to improve efficiency

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (FHG-ISE) and the University of Freiburg in Germany have exceeded their own previous record efficiency for organic solar cells (OSC) to now report 15.8% on an area of 1 cm², calling it a new 'world record'.

This is an improvement over 14.9% efficiency the duo reported in September 2020 under a certified measurement at the CalLab PV Cells (see 14.9% Efficiency Reported For Organic Solar Cells).

Researchers from the Freiburg University's Materials Research Center FMF and Fraunhofer ISE used an anti-reflection coating on the cell to enable it to absorb more light in the photoactive layer. Another FHG-ISE related department developed a sputtering process that was used to deposit the thin-film for the organic cell.

Fraunhofer ISE says it also uses the coating technology to develop electrodes for semi-transparent OSC.

Among the advantages of OSC is their ability to be manufactured without heavy metals and other critical elements, thus making them useful to be used for a variety of applications as windows and transparent protective covers for crops, once the technology is ready for commercial use.

Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK), under the project Fraunhofer said scientists are also investigating potential materials for the absorber layer, and front and rear electrodes that are highly transparent to visible light.

A few months back, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) announced binary OSC efficiency of 19.31% (18.93% certified) calling it the highest efficiency for such cells (see 'Remarkable' Binary OSC Efficiency).