The course aims at giving a comprehensive overview on the most promising and effective materials used to elaborate solar cells. It describes how organic-based materials have emerged and how they have drawn a continuously growing and fascinating attention for elaborating active layers in photovoltaic devices. It particularly shows the relationship between the structure of the materials and the way they are processed and their opto-electronic properties for understanding the performances of the solar cells.
The materials are presented depending on their role/function in the devices and the performances of the devices are related to both the structure of the materials and that of the devices.
- The working principle of differently-structured devices will be explained (bulk heterojunction, dye-sensitized, hybrid perovskite, and tandem solar cells).
- The most useful ways to obtain the materials with the desired properties will be described, as well as the techniques used to characterize their mechanical, thermal and opto-electronic properties.
- The opto-electronic properties of the materials will be investigated in depth, especially when processed as thin films.
- The degradation mechanisms in terms of materials stability and devices design will be described and solutions that lead to a better stability will be presented.
- Methods developed to improve the performance of solar cells will be presented
Processing techniques used in the industry to elaborate solar cells will be discussed.
