Ultra high open circuit voltage (>1 V) of poly-3-hexylthiophene based organic solar cells with concentrated light

One approach to increasing polymer solar cell efficiency is to blend poly-(3-hexyl-thiophene) with poorly electron accepting fullerene derivatives to obtain higher open circuit voltage (Voc). In this letter concentrated light is used to study the electrical properties of cell operation at up to 2000 solar intensities of these photoactive blends.

Comparison of solar cells based on five different fullerene derivatives shows that at both short circuit and open circuit conditions, recombination remains unchanged up to 50 suns. Determination of Voc at 2000 suns demonstrated that the same logarithmic Voc evolution is observed from 0.4 to 2000 suns, where a maximum Voc of 1019 mV was obtained. © 2013 American Institute of Physics.