Organic solar cells have the potential to become a source of renewable energy which is inexpensive and fast to roll out and scale up. Physicists at the University of Oxford have explored some of the scientific fundamentals of how these cells form and perform.
Solar energy currently accounts for less than 2 % of electricity generated worldwide but could make a big contribution to sustainability. Achieving scale involves deploying it over a large surface area. “We need several thousand square kilometres to make a dent in the world’s energy supply so the ability to scale up fast and at low cost is vital,” says Professor Moritz Riede, the main researcher for OSC Go and associate professor of soft functional nanomaterials at Oxford. “You would like to be able to coat square kilometres with solar cells in an inexpensive and fast way.”
Further details: Inside view could make organic solar cells more efficient