Effect of light incidence angle on optical absorption characteristics of low bandgap polymer-based bulk heterojunction organic solar cells

The bulk heterojunction organic solar cell based on thieno[3,4-b]thiophene/benzodithiophene (PTB7) is one of an alternative candidate for traditional silicon-based solar cells owing to its advantages of ease of manufacture, low cost, and flexibility. Currently, many research studies of these devices focus on power conversion efficiency (PCE) enhancement with only normal sunlight incidence. In this study, we have experimentally verified that PCE markedly decreased from 5.51 to 3.47% as incidence angle was changed from 0 to 60°. Using the finite-difference time-domain method, we found that the degeneration of optical absorption is caused by the decreased electrical field intensity in the photoactive layer over the entire wavelength range due to the optical interference profile change. In addition, we confirmed that a higher incidence angle also results in unbalanced charge carrier transport characteristics, resulting in further decrease in solar cell efficiency.