New Technology

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Abstract from Science - AAAS - Volume 321 issue 5886

High-Efficiency Organic Solar
Concentrators for Photovoltaics
Michael J. Currie,* Jonathan K. Mapel,* Timothy D. Heidel, Shalom Goffri, Marc A. Baldo†



The cost of photovoltaic power can be reduced with organic solar concentrators. These are planar
waveguides with a thin-film organic coating on the face and inorganic solar cells attached to the
edges. Light is absorbed by the coating and reemitted into waveguide modes for collection by the
solar cells. We report single- and tandem-waveguide organic solar concentrators with quantum
efficiencies exceeding 50% and projected power conversion efficiencies as high as 6.8%. The
exploitation of near-field energy transfer, solid-state solvation, and phosphorescence enables 10-
fold increases in the power obtained from photovoltaic cells, without the need for solar tracking.