Infrared Organic Photovoltaic: A Review

A major challenge for us in the 21st century is the transition from fossil-fuel-based energy to renewable energy. The growing world energy demand has urged people to search for new alternatives to conventional fossil resources. The earth's surface is encountered with approximately 40,000 exajoules (EJ) of solar energy annually. As the available resources are being exhausted and are harmful for the environment, there is a need for resources that are green, inexpensive, efficient and environment-friendly is increasing day by day. Today's solar cells are not efficient and are currently too expensive to manufacture for electricity generation. Cost is an important factor in solar technology. However, recent advancements in nanotechnology may open the door for the production of cheaper and slightly more efficient solar cells.. Nanotechnology has already shown some huge breakthroughs in the solar field. Nanotechnology might be able to increase the efficiency of solar cells by broadening the absorption spectrum and reduce the cost of production. Utilizing nanotechnology in an inexpensive solar cell would help to overcome cost and efficiency problems. This paper provides an overview of the absorption of solar power in the infrared spectrum by using nanomaterials in organic photovoltaics. Application of nanotechnology in these organic photovoltaics will help us to make solar energy more economical and efficient making energy production environmental-friendly.