3-D Simulation and Optimization of Organic Solar Cell With Periodic Back Contact Grating Electrode

Author

Fallahpour, A.H. ; Ulisse, G. ; Auf der Maur, M. ; Di Carlo, A. ; Brunetti, F.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Univ. of Rome “Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

Volume

5

Issue

2

fYear

2015

fDate

Mar-15

Firstpage

591

Lastpage

596

Abstract

In this paper, we report an investigation of the optical and electrical properties of an organic solar cell (OSC) with a back contact grating architecture through 3-D numerical simulations. By using finite-element methods for both optical and transport properties, we have modeled the behavior of OSC with a grating architecture and compared with a conventional planar structure. Based on these optoelectrical simulations, we optimized the back contact grating, obtaining an increment of up to 17.5% in power conversion efficiency with respect to a planar structured OSC. This enhancement is the result of an increase of both short-circuit current and fill factor.

Keywords

finite element analysis; organic compounds; solar cells; 3D numerical simulations; electrical properties; fill factor; finite-element methods; optical properties; optoelectrical simulations; organic solar cell optimization; periodic back contact grating electrode; power conversion efficiency; short-circuit current; transport properties; Absorption; Computer architecture; Gratings; Materials; Optical device fabrication; Photovoltaic cells; Plasmons; Computational modeling; optoelectronic devices; organic solar cells (OSCs); periodic structures; photovoltaics; thin-film devices;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3381

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2373813

Filename

6977904