A new generation of eco-friendly organic solar cells

有机太阳能电池（OSCs）是第三代薄膜光伏技术。最近，OSCs已成为取代传统硅基太阳能电池的最有前途的设备之一，2019年全球市场规模为5560万美元，预计到2027年将增长到1.013亿美元。它们卓越的能量转换效率（接近23%）、低处理成本和更低的环境足迹将有助于推动这项技术在未来的发展。今天，OSCs商业化的主要限制仍然是与实验室规模的产品或无机太阳能电池相比，商业设备的功率转换效率较低。从基本的角度来看，这可能与缺乏基本机制的知识有关，这些机制允许电荷在不同的有机层和/或电极之间转移。尽管许多实验室规模的产品已经证明了高功率转换效率，但大多数工作都是通过难以大规模应用的工艺完成的，例如旋转涂层和低压物理气相沉积（PVD），这限制了这些材料的未来发展。从战略角度来看，缺乏强大的本地合作伙伴关系来合作开发先进的商用OSCs，也限制了这些设备在加拿大的市场。由于所有这些原因，业界需要付出很多努力来了解和提高制造过程中不同步骤的质量。在这种情况下，我们的研究团队，以及几个工业加拿大合作伙伴，决定加入他们的努力来解决这些挑战。在这种情况下，我们的目标是提供前沿的方法来开发功能性涂层和表面，使这个工业联盟能够在光伏行业开发新的市场。

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.