IMEC, Polyera and international chemical group Solvay have achieved a record efficiency for polymer-based single junction organic solar cells with an inverted device stack.
The inverted bulk heterojunction architecture for polymer-based solar cells comes from Belgian lab IMEC and is designed to increases device stability as well as manage light absorption.
"It is remarkable to see how the inverted architecture adds to the performance of these cells," said Tom Aernouts, IMEC R&D team leader.
To this was added a proprietary Polyera semiconductor in the photoactive layer, resulting in a certified efficiency of 8.3%.
"This is the highest certified efficiency reported to date in the world for inverted polymer cell architectures," said IMEC. "Further improvements of efficiency and lifetime are required to bring this technology to market."
Last week, Dresden-based Heliatek claimed a record 9.8% efficiency from a tandem (two junction) organic solar cell.