Plasmonic Study of Nanoparticles in Organic Photovoltic Cells: A Review

Abstract

The worldwide consumption of energy has increased every year by several percentages in the last decades. Nowadays, a large amount of energy is produced by fossil fuels and to a certain extent by nuclear energy. However, these resources are limited and their use has a serious environmental impact. Solar light is the most important source of regenerative energy and represents an inexhaustible energy source. Owing to this fact the attention has been drawn during the last few years towards Solar cells. Moreover, to overcome barriers such as effective cost efficiency and commercial feasibility, methods of energy generations have turned to Organic Photovoltaics devices. The advantages being: generation of cost effective devices, use of renewable sources of energy and easy flexibility. In recent years rapid development in design has led to progressive PCE of organic solar cell from 3% to almost 9-10%. To improve the efficiency of organic solar cells it is, therefore, crucial to understand what limits the cell’s performance and efficiency. The scattering from the metal nanoparticles is a way of increasing the light absorption and the efficiency in organic solar cells. This review discusses the recent significant technological developments that were presented in the literature with the basic mechanisms at work, which will help improve the organic photovoltaic performance and provide an outlook to future prospects in this area. Keywords: