For all these advantages, organic solar cells have struggled to match the efficiency of their silicon counterparts.
While silicon panels can convert up to 25% of sunlight into electricity, organic cells have typically hovered around 12% efficiency.
Unlocking efficiencyRecent developments have rejuvenated the excitement around organic semiconductors.
A new class of materials called non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) pushed organic solar cell efficiency closer to 20%, narrowing the gap with silicon.
The Kansas research team set out to understand why NFAs perform so much better than other organic semiconductors.
For all these advantages, organic solar cells have struggled to match the efficiency of their silicon counterparts. While silicon panels can convert up to 25% of sunlight into electricity, organic cells have typically hovered around 12% efficiency. This gap has proved to be a significant obstacle to widespread adoption.
Unlocking efficiency
Recent developments have rejuvenated the excitement around organic semiconductors. A new class of materials called non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) pushed organic solar cell efficiency closer to 20%, narrowing the gap with silicon.
The Kansas research team set out to understand why NFAs perform so much better than other organic semiconductors. Their investigation led to a surprising discovery: in certain circumstances, excited electrons in NFAs can gain energy from their surroundings instead of losing it.
This finding flies in the face of conventional wisdom. “This observation is counterintuitive because excited electrons typically lose their energy to the environment like a cup of hot coffee losing its heat to the surrounding,” Chan explained.
