Metal-free organic sensitizers with narrow absorption in the visible for solar cells exceeding 10 % efficiency

Abstract

<div> A novel family of six donor&ndash;acceptor type organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is reported. The dyes</div> <div> have been designed to have outstanding light absorption properties in the visible range and being able to achieve high</div> <div> photon-to-electrical current conversion for BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaic). Moreover, stability tests under illumination</div> <div> at 1 Sun and 65 1C showed a great stability for some of the devices, with less than 6% decrease of power conversion</div> <div> efficiency after 3000 hours. The differences in the performance of the six sensitizers under standard illumination</div> <div> conditions can be correlated with the observed differences in the photo-induced transient photovoltage and in charge</div> <div> extraction measurements. We report the use of one of the dyes for the fabrication of semi-transparent</div> <div> solar modules showing an active area of 1400 cm2 and a power output of 10.5 W m-2</div>