Transparent, near-infrared organic photovoltaic solar cells for window and energy-scavenging applications

Abstract

We fabricate near-infrared absorbing organic photovoltaics that are highly transparent to visible light. By optimizing near-infrared optical-interference, we demonstrate power efficiencies of $1.3\pm 0.1\mathrm{\%}$ with simultaneous average visible transmission of $>65\mathrm{\%}$ . Subsequent incorporation of near-infrared distributed-Bragg-reflector mirrors leads to an increase in the efficiency to $1.7\pm 0.1\mathrm{\%}$ , approaching the $2.4\pm 0.2\mathrm{\%}$ efficiency of the opaque cell, while maintaining high visible-transparency of $>55\mathrm{\%}$ . Finally, we demonstrate that a series-integrated array of these transparent cells is capable of powering electronic devices under near-ambient lighting. This architecture suggests strategies for high-efficiency power-generating windows and highlights an application uniquely benefiting from excitonic electronics.