Understanding Printed Hexagonal Contacts for Large Area Solar Cells through Simulation and Experiments

Solak, Selen; Shishegaran, Sara; Hübler, Arved; Mackenzie, Roderick C. I.

Abstract

Since their conception, organic electronic semiconductors have promised large area optoelectronic devices that can be mass produced at a fraction of the cost and embodied energy of devices made from traditional semiconductors. However, up-scaling from small area lab-scale fabrication techniques to large area roll-to-roll production has proved a substantial challenge. At the heart of this up-scaling problem is the need for low cost, reliable contacts which can be readily printed. Device performance is often limited by the contacts, in terms of charge extraction efficiency and morphological compatibility of the sequentially deposited layers. Herein, we combine high-speed roll-to-roll flexographic and gravure printing with numerical device modeling to understand the performance of printed silver hexagonal contacts, and how contact design can affect final device performance. We present a strategy, which we dub 'virtual up scaling' where by the performance of the printed contact is virtually evaluated with an active layer material/device structure before the full device stack is printed. Through this methodology we develop a set of general design rules which can be applied when experimentally optimizing contacts of optoelectronic devices. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the number of design iterations and thus print runs when up-scaling a structure. 2

Citation

Solak, S., Shishegaran, S., Hübler, A., & Mackenzie, R. C. I. (2021). Understanding Printed Hexagonal Contacts for Large Area Solar Cells through Simulation and Experiments. Solar RRL, 5(12), Article 2100787. https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202100787

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 25, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 26, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Dec 1, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Journal: Solar RRL
• Electronic ISSN: 2367-198X
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: 2100787
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202100787
• Keywords: Solar-energy; modelling; large-area; printed solar cells
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6843637
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/solr.202100787
• Additional Information: This is the accepted version of the following article: Solak, S., Shishegaran, S., Hübler, A.C. and MacKenzie, R.C.I. (2021), Understanding Printed Hexagonal Contacts for Large Area Solar Cells through Simulation and Experiments. Sol. RRL 2100787, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202100787. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Wiley Self-Archiving Policy.