Recent trends in polymer tandem solar cells research

Abstract

Polymer solar cells have many intrinsic advantages, such as their light weight, flexibility, and low material and manufacturing costs. Recently, polymer tandem solar cells have attracted significant attention due to their potential to achieve higher performance than single cells. This trend article intends to provide the latest progress in polymer tandem solar cell technology with a focus on active layer materials and interfacial materials for sub-cell interconnection. Following an introduction of the structure and current status of polymer tandem solar cells, this article will review polymers which have been, and could be used, for tandem solar cells. Furthermore, this article will discuss the interconnecting layer consisting of p- and n-type interfacial layers, which is equally critical for polymer tandem solar cells. Finally, because tandem solar cell measurements are more complicated than that of single solar cells, this article will also address polymer tandem solar cell measurement issues.