Numerical study of electrical behavior of P3HT/PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cell

Abstract

In this work the program AMPS-1D was used to optimize the performance of the organic solar cells. The cells considered consist of poly(3-HexylThiophène) [P3HT] as electron donors, and (6,6)-phenyl- C61-butyric acid methyl ester [PCBM] as electron acceptor, (P3HT/PCBM) is used as photo-active material, sandwiched between a transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) and layer of poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene)/ poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) on top of the ITO electrode and an AL backside contact. The results showed that the optimum thickness of the solar cell is about 400 nm, V_oc = 0.61 at T = 300 K. This is in the good agreement with the corresponding computer simulation value of 0.63 V. The maximum limit for the organic solar cell efficiency is about 8%, provided that the band-gap of the cell is about 1.5 eV.