This work was devoted to the photochemical stability of the active layer of organic solar cells. The objective was to study the influence of active layer photodegradation on the device properties, so as to determine if the active layer stability limits or not the solar cells lifetime. The presented data deal with the poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) / [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butanoic acid methyl ester (PC60BM) system. The P3HT photochemical behaviour was first investigated in presence and in absence of oxygen. Photochemical degradation of the polymer / fullerene blend was then studied, both on an inert substrate and inside the cell. In this latter case, we especially focused on two criteria: the active layer absorbance and the blend morphology. Final...