Organic Photovoltaic Modules Built on Paper Substrates

Abstract Organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules, which are attractive for large‐volume high‐throughput production, can become more environmentally sustainable with eco‐friendly flexible substrates such as paper. This article reports fabrication and performance of 108 cm² active area 12 by 12 cm OPV, built on 15 by 15 cm paper substrates. Active area power conversion efficiency (PCE) values up to 2.38 and 4.23% respectively for poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]‐phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and poly({4,8‐bis[(2‐ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene‐2,6‐diyl}{3‐fluoro‐2‐[(2‐ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4‐b]thiophenediyl}) (PTB7):PCBM blend heterojunction photoactive layer modules under AM1.5G spectrum one sun (100 mW cm⁻²) intensity illumination are demonstrated. Due to better spectrum matching, for 1000 lux cool‐white light emitting diode (LED) illumination, the power density demonstrated is up to 12 µW cm⁻² for these modules, which is comparable to 13 µW cm⁻² from a (standard illumination PCE 15%) silicon PV device for the same illumination. These results make OPV on environment friendly paper substrate, an attractive option for practical applications.