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Toray Claims ‘Highest Efficiency’ for Organic Thin-film Solar Cell

by Hiroshi Idegawa, Nikkei Monozukuri /Mar 24, 2009
Source: TechOn
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20090324/167611/

Toray Industries Inc developed a new polymer donor material, a main material for organic thin-film solar cells, and realized an organic thin-film solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 5.5%. The conversion efficiency is higher than the 5.15%, the highest efficiency that has so far been announced in academic conferences. The company plans to further improve the material performance, aiming to commercialize an organic thin-film solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 7% until 2015.

The new donor material has as high an open voltage as about 1V because it incorporates a new structure in the polymer backbone to expand the energy difference between the donor material and acceptor material. In addition, it features a substituent that enables to form an optimal structure of power generation layer, thus, achieving both high short-circuit current and voltage. Through these measures, Toray Industries realized the world’s highest-level conversion efficiency of 5.5%.

As for the oxidative resistance of the donor material, which influences durability, its stable molecular structure prevents performance degradation even if the material is exposed to the air for a long time.

Toray Industries will announce this achievement at the 56th Spring Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, which will take place from March 30 to April 2, 2009, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.