Stability of organic solar cells

Organic solar cells degrade rapidly under both environmental and light exposure. In this paper, we review some of the changes in fundamental properties of organic solar cells under both photon-induced and environment-induced exposure which lead to changes in conversion efficiency. It is shown that the fundamental material properties, such as mobility of holes, defect densities in the absorbing material, and defect densities at the interface change as the device is exposed to air and to environmental exposure. It is also shown that contact effects can also play a major role in degradation.