An organic solar cell or plastic solar cell is a type of polymer solar cell that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport to produce electricity from sunlight by the photovoltaic effect. The plastic used in organic solar cells has low production costs in high volumes. Combined with the flexibility of organic molecules, organic solar cells are potentially cost-effective for photovoltaic applications. Molecular engineering (e.g. changing the length and functional group of polymers) can change the energy gap, which allows chemical change in these materials. The optical absorption coefficient of organic molecules is high, so a large amount of light can be absorbed with a small amount of materials. The main disadvantages associated with organic photovoltaic cells are low efficiency, low stability and low strength compared to inorganic photovoltaic cells. A photovoltaic cell is a specialized semiconductor diode that converts visible light into direct current (DC) electricity. Some photovoltaic cells can also convert infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) radiation into DC. A common characteristic of both the small molecules and polymers used in photovoltaics is that they all have large conjugated systems
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 19:33:15 +0000
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