Inkjet printing of semitransparent electrodes for photovoltaic applications

In this work we compare two different semitransparent inkjet printed electrodes for organic photovoltaic (OPV) applications. We highlight the processing as well as layer properties of the most commonly used silver grid/PEDOT:PSS electrodes and a newly developed inkjet printed silver nanowire (AgNW) mesh. Application of the different electrode types in fully inkjet printed organic solar cells reveals the superior performance of the AgNWs. Using them as bottom and top electrode, semitransparent solar cells with power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of up to 4.3 % are demonstrated. Comparable devices with silver grid electrodes reach a maximum PCE of 3.6 %. We identify shading of the opaque silver grids, which cover ~10 % of the device area, and thermal stress introduced by the curing of the silver grid top electrodes as main factors for the losses. Furthermore, the silver grids do not only lower the short circuit current of the solar cell, but are also visually obstructive. The newly developed inkjet printed AgNW percolation network electrodes show high transparency of over 90 % at a sheet resistance of less than 20 Ω/□ and a very low haze of less than 3 %. This enables a clear view through semitransparent devices like organic light emitting diodes (OLEDS) or solar cells in which they can be used.