A new generation of eco-friendly organic solar cells

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Organic solar cells (OSCs) are the third generation of thin-film photovoltaic technologies. Recently, OSCs have become one of the most promising devices to replace conventional silicon-based solar cells with a global market size of 55.6 million U$ in 2019, that is projected to grow to 101.3 million U$ in 2027. Their remarkable power conversion efficiency (close to 23%), low-processing cost and lower environmental footprint will contribute to propelling this technology in the future. Today, the main limitation for the commercialization of the OSCs remains the low power conversion efficiency of the commercial devices in comparison with lab-scale products or inorganic solar cells. From a fundamental point of view this can be related to the lack of knowledge of the fundamental mechanisms allowing the charge transfer between the different organic layers and/or the electrode. Although many lab-scale products have demonstrated high power conversion efficiency, most of the work has been done with processes that are hardly applicable at large scale, such as spin coating and low-pressure physical vapour deposition (PVD), which limits the development of these materials in the future. From a strategic point of view, the lack of strong local partnerships cooperating on the development of advanced commercial OSCs also limits today the market for these devices in Canada. Because all these reasons, many efforts are required from the industry to understand and improve the quality of the different steps of the fabrication process. In this context, our research team, along with several industrial Canadian partners, decide to join their efforts to tackle these challenges. In this context, our objective is to offer front-edge methods to develop functional coatings and surfaces that would enable this industrial consortium to develop new markets in the photovoltaic industry.