Can Polymer Solar Cells Open the Path to Sustainable and Efficient Photovoltaic Windows Fabrication?

Abstract

Sunlight is among the most abundant energy sources available on our planet. Finding adequate solutions to properly and efficiently harvest it is of major importance to potentially solve the global energy crisis. Polymer solar cells have been introduced in the late 20th century as low-cost and easily processed alternative to the state-of-the-art silicon photovoltaics. Their power conversion efficiencies, which were initially rather low, are constantly improving and now reach values close to 15 %. As their optical properties can be easily tuned, designing active layer which absorb homogeneously throughout the visible spectrum is relatively simple. These peculiar characteristics enable the possibility to fabricate visibly transparent solar cells with high color rendering indices which can be employed as photovoltaic windows. After reviewing some of the most successful examples of polymer solar cell-based transparent photovoltaic window fabrication, I will discuss the possibility to produce these devices in a sustainable and/or eco-friendly manner while maintaining their performances.