Effect of electrical properties, transmittance, and morphology of ITO electrode on polymer solar cells characteristics

We investigated the influence of ITO properties on the performance of bulk heterojunction solar cells. The morphology, electrical and optical properties of ITO electrodes were characterized. The power conversion efficiency of cells made on different ITO substrates varied significantly from 2.3% to 3.1%. It was found that for a higher sheet resistance ITO substrate, the sheet resistance was the dominant parameter affecting the performance of the based solar cells, while for the lower ( below 20 ohm/square) sheet resistance, transmittance in the region where polymer strongly absorbs and the surface roughness of the substrate had significant effect on the solar cells performance.