Modeling Of Organic Solar Cells For Future Applications

Modeling Of Organic Solar Cells For Future Applications 1
MODELING OF ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS FOR FUTURE APPLICATIONS
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Modeling Of Organic Solar Cells For Future Applications 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The earth providentially has abundant natural and renewable resources that are enough
for the sustenance of humans on this planet. However, various human activities have threatened
the existence of these natural resources over the past. Taking an instance of energy, multiple
events have been exploited, which has resulted in detrimental effects of the ozone layer and other
climatic conditions. This implies that there is a need to adopt sustainable practices which will
ensure that the future generation also benefits from the natural resources. Thus, this project
proposal narrows down to one source of energy: solar energy which when potentially harnessed
via organic solar cells with improved efficiency, will not only be of significant benefit to humans
but also promote sustainability. The project aims to design a model of solar cells which can meet
the future energy demands by reducing the cost, weight, and increasing performance associated
with organic solar cells. The anticipated findings is a robust organic cell design with an
increased COE and enhanced performance. The work to be undertaken as outlined in this
research proposal will be significant to meeting the future energy demands as it offers a clear
roadmap with all the design aspects.

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INTRODUCTION
A significant percentage of electricity that is currently utilized on the globe emanates
from sources such as natural gas, coal, oil as well as traditional sources of energy which has
recently been faced with sustainability issues. These sources have as well faced other challenges
concerning security, rising prices, as well as the risks associated with climate change and
environmental issues. As a result, various agencies have come out in support of other renewable
sources of energy which are have minimal disadvantages. The renewable resources generally are
unlimited in availability; however, this is not the case with fossil fuels, as they tend to get
depleted.
One of the most rapidly growing technologies is solar power generation (Brabec et al.,
2011). As at now, the rate of consumption in the world by statistic is averagely 13 terawatts.
With the increase of living standards and the increasing number of populations, this number is
expected to rise to 30 terawatts. When this anticipated power is made available through the
burning of the fossil fuels, then the levels of carbon in the atmosphere will surely go up, resulting
into global warming and associated climate and environmental issues which may not be
desirable. Hence, a challenge that is facing a majority of the engineers as at now is to come up
with a technology which will be able to meet the demands of 30 terawatts without causing too
much harm into the atmosphere.
From the existing knowledge and principles, it is possible to generate this amount of
power by the utilization of fossil fuels in expanding nuclear plants. Contrarily, there is the need
to develop desirable renewables sources which come along with minimal harm to the
environment and humanity. McGhee notes that 120000 terawatts of radiation are deposited by
the sun on the earth’s surface, implying that there is a sufficient amount of power or instead

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resources to develop and harvest the solar energy. The diagram below illustrates the global
photovoltaic market.
So far, a small amount of electricity comes from solar cells, and this is mostly attributed
to the expensive nature of the solar cells. The efficiency is ten five percent, with more than 95
percent of the solar panels being made of crystalline silicon. In terms of the cost, a solar panel
goes at $ 350 per square meters. When you make a summation of the costs involved in the
installation, wiring, and conversions: ac and dc concreters, the cost will be approcimately$6/watt.
The lifetime of a solar panel is over thirty years, thus, doing the arithmetic takes it to 0.3Kw-hr.
When we make a comparison, for example in the United States, the cost of electricity goes at
around $.06/kw-hr, which is five times much than when it is generated through solar cells. If at
all, the cost of generating electricity through solar cells would be minimized, then no doubt the
energy that would be desired currently would have been environmentally friendly, as well as
economically favorable (Facchetti, 2010).