Polymer Hybrid Photovoltaics for Inexpensive Electricity Generation: Final Technical Report, 1 September 2001--30 April 2006

The project goal is to understand the operating mechanisms underlying the performance of polymer hybrid photovoltaics to enable the development of a photovoltaic with a maximum power conversion efficiency over cost ratio that is significantly greater than current PV technologies. Plastic or polymer-based photovoltaics can have significant cost advantages over conventional technologies in that they are compatible with liquid-based plastic processing and can be assembled onto plastic under atmospheric conditions (ambient temperature and pressure) using standard printing technologies, such as reel-to-reel and screen printing. Moreover, polymer-based PVs are lightweight, flexible, and largely unbreakable, which make shipping, installation, and maintenance simpler. Furthermore, a numerical simulation program was developed (in collaboration with IBM) to fully simulate the performance of multicomponent polymer photovoltaic devices, and a manufacturing method was developed (in collaboration with Add-vision) to inexpensively manufacture larger-area devices