Polymer Solar Cells: Components, Production, Applications, and the Market

Human need for energy is an inevitable necessity, which is increasing day by day. The reason for this is the need for technological change and the development of various human societies around the world. There are limited sources of energy available on the earth, while solar energy is abundantly available at the surface of the earth. The polymers normally used in organic solar cells are often made of aromatic heterocyles structures which contain heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen and sulfure. These structures form a resonating network which leads to closing together HUMO and LOMO which results in small energy gaps. Polymers are normally used as donors and other molecules are used as acceptors to conduct electrons towards anode. Activities on different technologies are underway to collect and store solar energy, and some of them have grown well. Polymer solar cells are one of these technological branches, which have many advantages due to their low energy consumption in their production and the rapid roll-to-roll production process. On the other hand, due to the flexibility and lightness of the polymeric solar cells, there are many developing applications for this type of solar cells. Thus, in the near future, by increasing the efficiency and longevity, polymer solar cells grow rapidly and take on dominant positions in areas such as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs).