Research Blogs
Stability Testing and Electronic Characterization of Kesterite Solar Cells for Indoor Applications
Fluxim presents advanced stability testing and electronic characterization techniques for kesterite solar cells. Learn how these tools enhance efficiency and reliability, making them ideal for indoor applications. Discover breakthroughs in renewable energy research!
How to correctly simulate the EQE of an organic tandem solar cell using full optoelectronic simulations
Learn how to accurately simulate the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of organic tandem solar cells with full optoelectronic models in SETFOS. Explore optical and electrical setups, EQE measurement techniques, and design optimizations.
Space Charge Limited Current (SCLC) and Charge Carrier Mobility in Organic Semiconductors
Discover how charge carrier mobility is measured in organic and perovskite semiconductors. This guide explains the Space Charge Limited Current (SCLC) method, with its key advantages, limitations, and applications.
How to Improve Measurement Accuracy of LED and PV Devices with a Common Electrode
Non-metalized contact pads and shared electrodes can undermine the accuracy of solar cell and LED measurements due to high contact resistance, distorting current-voltage (IV) curves and resulting in incorrect maximum-power-point (MPP) and open-voltage circuit (Voc) values. However, solutions exist: metallizing contact pads with gold or silver can reduce resistance issues, and avoiding common electrodes in multi-pixel designs can further enhance measurement accuracy, leading to improved reliability and efficiency in solar cells and LEDs.
Estimation of Charge Carrier Mobility in Solar Cells: An Introduction to CELIV
Dive into the world of mobility in solar cells, and explore how CELIV measurements help determine charge carrier mobility in thin-film solar cells like perovskite and organic solar cells. Learn about various CELIV techniques and their applications in this comprehensive research blog.
Quantification of trap states by thermally stimulated current in thin film solar cells
The performance of light-emitting (LEDs) and photovoltaic (PV) devices depends on the quality of the photoactive semiconductor material. The unintentional introduction of defects in the semiconductor material due to material impurities or during the fabrication process causes the deviation from optimal performance.
These defects are referred to as trap states, or in short “traps”, which are energetic states within the bandgap of a semiconductor. In general, traps can occur due to material impurities (in the bulk) or at the interfaces between layers of different materials.
In the following blog post, we will present how to characterize the trap states with the technique called thermally stimulated current (TSC). We also propose a method to reliably interpret the TSC results based on drift-diffusion simulations.
Grid Optimization for Maximum Power Output of Large-area Organic Solar Cells
It is challenging to increase the device area of optoelectronic devices based on perovskite and organic materials without losing performance. One of the key issues is the high sheet resistance (Rs) of the transparent conductive oxide (TCO). Combining the TCO with a metallic grid reduces the ohmic losses, but what is the grid geometry that maximizes performance?
In this tutorial, we will show you, how to use the simulation software Laoss and its optimization feature to quickly find the grid geometrical features for maximum power output.
How to quantify Non-radiative voltage losses and recombination in solar cells
The open-circuit voltage (Voc) is the electrical potential difference between the two terminals of a solar cell, when there is no external load applied, hence no electric current flows. Correspondingly, this means that, when a voltage equivalent to the Voc is applied to the terminals of the solar cell, the recombination current (Jrec, which typically follows a non-ideal diode equation) and the photocurrent (Jph, the current generated by illuminating the solar cell) are equal, hence the net current is zero (Jrec=Jph at V= Voc).
Solar cells often present also non-radiative recombination mechanisms, in addition to the radiative one, as a result of poor material quality and non-idealities. To increase the Voc and thus potentially the power conversion efficiency, it is necessary to minimize the ΔVoc,nrad. It is, therefore, necessary to quantify the total loss and determine its origin.
Electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) allow to directly extract the ΔVoc,nrad for thin-film solar cells such as perovskite solar cells, kesterite, perovskite, organic, or quantum dot. solar cells.
After quantifying the losses, the combination of capacitance-voltage (CV), temperature-dependent voltage characteristics (JV-T), and capacitance-frequency (Cf-T) measurements are essential to identify the recombination mechanisms.
How to reduce loss channels and defects in large-area organic solar cells
Our 2D + 1D software LAOSS is a perfect tool to understand and improve on different upscaling strategies which combine 1D layer stack with 2D lateral simulations. In this blog post, we will discuss the findings by Matthias Diethelm and his colleagues who used LAOSS to simulate centimeter-sized organic solar cells to understand loss channels and macroscopic defects.
Numerical Optimization of Organic and Hybrid Multijunction and Tandem Solar Cells
We present a numerical optimization of organic and hybrid multijunction solar cell devices , using an integrated optoelectronic device simulation approach that captures the essential properties of the complex multilayer structures, such as, light scattering at both macroscopic and rough thin film textures, resonator effects in coherent stacks, and the impact of organic interface properties for the design of efficient recombination layers . The optimization capabilities of the numerical device simulation framework are illustrated in the examples of textured perovskite silicon and all organic tandem solar cells.