SBIR Phase II: Improved Solution Processible Small Organic Molecule Architectures for Lightweight-Flexible Photovoltaics.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将为有机（塑料）光伏（OPV）技术开发新的可溶性小分子（SSM）和设备架构。ssm是一种低成本的塑料半导体，可以作为油墨印刷或喷涂到传统的塑料片上，以制造极其便宜、轻便和灵活的太阳能电池。有机太阳能电池的发展主要是基于从蒸汽（一种昂贵且受限的过程）或溶液处理的聚合物中沉积的小分子；半导体聚合物本质上是不纯的，并且限于小批量生产，批次之间不一致。SSM-OPV技术消除了这些关键的开发和制造障碍。在本项目中，我们将通过开发SSM-OPV串联电池进一步提高SSM-OPV电池的功率转换效率（PCE），这将提高理论PCE极限，并直接提高实际PCE。与传统太阳能电池制造多结太阳能电池复杂且成本过高不同，SSM-OPV非常适合低成本串联电池制造。因此，该项目将解决OPV技术商业化的最关键障碍之一。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是超低成本太阳能电池的前景，这种电池非常轻，非常灵活，并且可以通过低成本的卷对卷加工在国内制造。这些塑料太阳能电池有望比现有技术更轻，更灵活，具有竞争力的效率和寿命，适用于小众便携式太阳能市场和光伏集成屋顶。由轻型柔性光伏制成的小众太阳能应用市场包括用于军事和零售用户的独立便携式充电器，以及集成系统，包括与帐篷、遮阳篷、休闲车和膜屋顶集成。这个市场相对较新，正在迅速增长，尽管目前可用的技术很难满足市场需求。目前便携式太阳能市场上可用的光伏电池具有有限的灵活性，从而增加了它们的体积和重量。虽然还很新，但到2020年，柔性/便携式太阳能市场预计将超过420兆瓦，达到6亿美元。到2018年，柔性建筑集成光伏（BIPV）屋顶产品的市场预计将达到30亿美元。SSM-OPV技术也有可能在未来进入更大的公用事业规模市场。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop new soluble small molecules (SSM) and device architectures for organic (plastic) photovoltaic (OPV) technology. SSMs are low-cost plastic semiconductors that can be printed as an ink or spray painted onto conventional plastic sheets to fabricate extremely inexpensive, lightweight, and flexible solar cells. Development of organic solar cells has primarily been based on small molecules deposited from vapor (an expensive and constraining process) or solution-processed polymers; semiconducting polymers by nature are inherently impure and are limited to small batch sizes with inconsistencies between batches. SSM-OPV technology removes these critical development and manufacturing barriers. In this project we will further increase the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of our SSM-OPV cells by developing SSM-OPV tandem cells, which will increase the theoretical PCE limit as well as directly improve the actual PCE. Unlike conventional solar where the fabrication of multi-junction solar cells is complex and cost is prohibitively high, SSM-OPV is well suited for low cost tandem cell fabrication. Therefore this project will be addressing one of the most critical barriers to the commercialization of OPV technology.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the promise of very low-cost solar cells that are extremely lightweight and flexible, and which are domestically manufactured via low-cost roll-to-roll processing. These plastic solar cells promise to be substantially lighter and more flexible than existing technologies, with competitive efficiencies and lifetimes for the niche portable solar market and PV integrated roofing. The market for niche solar applications made from lightweight flexible photovoltaics includes stand-alone portable chargers for military and retail users as well as integrated systems including integration with tents, awnings, recreational vehicles, and membrane roofing. This market is relatively new and is quickly growing despite the fact the market needs are poorly met by currently available technologies. Currently available photovoltaics in the portable solar market have limited flexibility thereby increasing their collapsed volume and weight. While still new, the niche flexible/portable solar market is predicted to surpass 420MW and reach $600 million by 2020. The market for flexible building-integrated PV (BIPV) roofing products is projected to reach $3 billion by 2018. There is also potential that SSM-OPV technology could make inroads into the much larger utility scale market in the future.