Method of manufacturing inverted organic solar microarray for applications in microelectromechanical systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9425397-B2
Application number	US-201514876872-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2015
Priority date	Mar 8, 2011
Publication date	Aug 23, 2016
Grant date	Aug 23, 2016

Abstract

The fabrication and characterization of large scale inverted organic solar array fabricated using all-spray process is disclosed. Solar illumination has been demonstrated to improve transparent solar photovoltaic devices. The technology using SAM has potential to revolute current silicon-based photovoltaic technology by providing a complete solution processable manufacturing process. The semi-transparent property of the solar module allows for applications on windows and windshields. The inventive arrays are more efficient than silicon solar cells in artificial light environments, permitting use of the arrays in powering microelectromechanical systems and in integration with microelectromechanical systems.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing an organic solar photovoltaic array, comprising the steps:
forming a plurality of organic solar photovoltaic cells, further comprising:
patterning indium tin oxide onto a substrate to form a rhomboid indium tin oxide layer having a first rectangular section, a second rectangular section disposed perpendicular to the first rectangular section and having a first end conjoining an end of the first rectangular section, a third rectangular section perpendicular to the second rectangular section and conjoining a second end of the second rectangular section;
applying a Self Assembled Molecule layer onto the rhomboid indium tin oxide layer, wherein the Self Assembled Molecule layer comprises N-propyl trimethoxysilane or aminopropyl triethoxysilane, wherein the Self Assembled Molecule layer is disposed on the first rectangular section of the rhomboid indium tin oxide layer;
annealing the Self Assembled Molecule layer inside a glovebox;
spraying an active layer of poly-3-hexylthiophene and (6,6)-phenyl C61 butyric acid methylester on the Self Assembled Molecule layer;
drying the plurality of photovoltaic cells in an antechamber under vacuum for at least 12 hours;
spraying a layer comprising poly (3,4) ethylenedioxythiophene:poly-styrenesulfonate mixed with 5 vol. % of dimethylsulfoxide to form a rectangular layer having a first end disposed on the active layer and a second end disposed on the third rectangular section of the rhomboid indium tin oxide layer;
placing the organic solar photovoltaic array into high vacuum for 1 h;
annealing the organic solar photovoltaic array;
encapsulating the organic solar photovoltaic array with a UV-cured epoxy; and

integrating the plurality of organic solar photovoltaic cells into an array, wherein the array is connected in parallel or in series.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patterning of the indium tin oxide further comprises:
providing the substrate coated with indium tin oxide;
patterning the indium tin oxide using photolithography;
etching the indium tin oxide; and
cleaning the etched indium tin oxide and substrate.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the patterning of indium tin oxide using photolithography pattern is performed by spraying positive resist onto the substrate coated with indium tin oxide using a spray mask.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the etching of the indium tin oxide is performed with a mixed solution of HCl and HNO 3 .

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the etched indium tin oxide and the substrate are cleaned by sonification in trichloroethylene, acetone, and isopropanol.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the cleaning is performed at 50° C. for 20 minutes per cleaning, followed by drying with N 2 .

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a solution of the active layer constituents is prepared by mixing poly-3-hexylthiophene and (6,6)-phenyl C61 butyric acid methylester with a weight ratio of 1:1 in dichlorobenzene.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the active layer is stirred on a hotplate for 48 h at 60° C. prior to spraying.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the layer comprising poly (3,4) ethylenedioxythiophene:poly-styrenesulfonate mixed with 5 vol. % of dimethylsulfoxide is prepared by:
diluting the poly (3,4) ethylenedioxythiophene:poly-styrenesulfonate;
filtering the diluted poly (3,4) ethylenedioxythiophene:poly-styrenesulfonate through a 0.45 μm filter; and
mixing the dimethylsulfoxide into the diluted poly (3,4) ethylenedioxythiophene:poly-styrenesulfonate.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the high vacuum is 10 −6 Torr.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising assembling the plurality of organic solar photovoltaic cells into an array of 60 individual cells from the plurality of organic solar photovoltaic cells, wherein each individual cell has an active area of 12 mm 2 .

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the array is configured with 10 cells from the plurality of organic solar photovoltaic cells in series, in one row, and 6 rows in parallel.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Self Assembled Molecule layer comprises N-propyl trimethoxysilane.

Assignees

• Lewis Jason Erik
• Jiang Xiaomei
• Univ South Florida

Inventors

• Lewis Jason Erik
• Jiang Xiaomei

Classifications

• Y02E10/549

  Organic PV cells · CPC title

• H10K39/12

  Electrical configurations of PV cells, e.g. series connections or parallel connections · CPC title

• H10K71/12

  using liquid deposition, e.g. spin coating · CPC title

• H10K30/82 Primary

  Transparent electrodes, e.g. indium tin oxide [ITO] electrodes · CPC title

• H10F77/12

  Active materials · CPC title