Semitransparent organic photovoltaics with wide geographical adaptability as sustainable smart windows
Jiangsheng Yu, Jihong Pu, Dongsheng Xie, Zhenhai Ai, Yongwen Lang, Menghua Cao, Chunhui Duan, Lin Lu, Gang Li
Abstract
Semitransparent organic photovoltaics (ST-OPVs) have gained significant attention due to their rapid iteration of high-efficiency photoactive materials and potential applications in building-integrated photovoltaics as smart windows. In this work, we establish a parameter (FoMLUE) to evaluate the potential of photoactive materials for ST-OPVs, combining average visual transmittance, bandgap, and current density. PBOF and eC9 exhibit the highest FoMLUE values of 0.084 and 0.161 for the investigated donors and acceptors, respectively. We achieve a light utilization efficiency of 6.05% as the figure of merit for all semitransparent solar cells. The derived ST-OPV exhibits enhanced thermal insulation and operational stability compared to its counterpart. The geographical analysis indicates that the hot summer/warm winter zone is the most suitable for ST-OPV glazing windows, delivering an annual total energy-saving of 1.43 GJ m-2. Our results demonstrate the multifunctionality and geographical factors of ST-OPVs for constructing sustainable energy-saving smart windows. Yu et al. report a parameter for screening photoactive materials for semitransparent organic photovoltaics, enabling a light utilization efficiency of 6.05%. Geographical analysis are also conducted and indicates that the hot summer/warm winter zone is more suitable for deploying smart windows.