Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 7(4): 334-339, 2016

Iranica Journal of Energy & Environment

Journal Homepage: www.ijee.net
IJEE an official peer review journal of Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, ISSN:2079-2115

Simulation of the Performance Parameters and Carrier Concentration Profile of Poly

3-Hexyl Thiophene / Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester Planar Hetero-junction
Photovoltaic Cell
A. Dutta* and S. M. Ullah

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

A B S T R A C T
PAPER INFO
In this research work, the performance parameters , such as fill factor (FF), external quantum
Paper history: efficiency (EQE) , maximum power density and carrier concentration profile of a planar hetero-
Received 18 June, 2016 junction poly 3-hexyl thiophene (P3HT) / phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) photovoltaic
Accepted in revised form 20 August 2016 cell has been simulated for different values of carrier mobility where the simulation has been
performed under the consideration of incident solar radiation of 1 kW/m 2 irradiance, air mass of 1.5,
ambient temperature of 300K and indium tin oxide (ITO) and aluminium (Al) has been considered as
Keywords: the anode and cathode of the P3HT/PCBM solar cell respectively. The performance parameters has
Organic been determined for electron mobility of 5 × 10 -4 , 5 × 10-3 , 5 × 10-2 and 5 × 10-1 (cm2/V.s) at the
Photovoltaics acceptor and hole mobility of 1 × 10-4 , 1 × 10-3 , 1 × 10-2 and 1 × 10-1 (cm2/V.s) at the donor layer.
Carrier Carrier concentration profile has been studied for 0.4 and 0.5 V junction voltage and for different
Concentration
values of carrier mobility. Finally highest external quantum efficiency of 2.413% and maximum power
Poly 3-hexyl thiophene
Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester density of 24.13 W/m2 has been obtained for hole mobility of 1 × 10 -1 (cm2/V.s) and electron mobility
Mobility of 5 × 10-1 (cm2/V.s).

doi: 10.5829/idosi.ijee.2016.07.04.03

INTRODUCTION1 incident solar energy, high performance photovoltaic

device is necessary. In this research work, several ways
Due to the shortage of Coals and other natural fuels, have been analyzed from the fabrication point of view to
generation of electricity at thermal power stations may be enhance the performance of organic solar cell and to
hampered at near future. So the research on the generate large amount of electrical power from the cell.
Renewable Energy Technology at the field of electrical During the past several years, research of organic
power generation has been increased in past few years. solar cell has been developed due to the introduction of
Photovoltaic devices with high efficiency will play a very new organic materials, improved materials engineering,
important role in huge amount of electrical power and more sophisticated device structures [5, 6].
generation by efficiently using the solar energy. Photovoltaic cell based on organic semiconductors are
Renewable energy technology is an example of clean interesting for several reasons. For example, by
energy which doesn’t pollute the environment with heat modifying the chemical structure of the compounds the
and smoke like fuels in the power plant. So healthy electrical properties of organic semiconductors can be
environment can be ensured using renewable energy in tailored in endless combinations [7,8]. Basic structure of
electrical power generation system [1-4]. a planar hetero-junction junction poly 3-hexyl thiophene
All energy sources may have some positive or negative (P3HT)/ phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)
impact on our environment. The cleanest and most has been shown in Figure 1 [9]. In this figure ITO and Al
sustainable techniques to generate electricity as it is the anode and cathode respectively. In this PV cell, the
produces no toxic pollution or green house gas emission incident solar radiation is absorbed at the active layer,
would be the technology used for photovoltaic (PV) creating bound electron-hole paiers, called excitons
solar cells. For efficient and cost effective use of the which diffuse to the interface of the donor and acceptor

* Corresponding author: A. Dutta

E-mail: arindutta40@gmail.com

Please cite this article as: A. Dutta and S. M. Ullah, 2016. Simulation of the Performance Parameters and Carrier Concentration Profile of
P3HT/PCBM Planar Hetero-junction Photovoltaic Cell, Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 7 (4): 334-339.
 Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 7(4): 334-339, 2016

layer. The build in electrical field of the hetero-junction concentration profile. Diffusivity of charge carriers can
separates the exciton to free charge carriers, electron also be analyzed from the carrier concentration profile
diffuses through the acceptor layer and hole diffuses via analyzing the gradient of the carrier concentration
through the donor layer and reach to the cathode and [15].
anode terminal respectively [10]. In organic
semiconductors like P3HT and PCBM, the Simulation
recombination mechanism of charge carriers is controlled In this research , the simulation study of the electrical
by the mobility of the charge carriers. So, in organic solar characteristics and carrier concentration profile of a
cells both the carrier extraction and the losses via carrier P3HT/PCBM Planar Hetero-junction Solar Cell has been
recombination is simultaneously controlled by the performed by considering P3HT and PCBM as the donor
mobility. Amount of light absorbed in the active layer and acceptor layer of the cell respectively. Indium tin
governs the amount of excitons created in a solar cell [11, oxide (ITO) and aluminium has been considered as the
12]. anode and cathode material of the cell, respectively. The
simulation is performed under the condition of 1 KW/m2
incident solar radiation, 1.5 AM and 300K ambient
temperature.

Performance Analysis of P3HT/PCBM Solar cell for

varying donor layer Thickness :
By varying the doping concentration in the active layer,
work function and conductivity at the active layer of the
organic solar cell can be tuned easily. So, mobility of the
charge carriers, induced at the hetero-junction of the
donor-acceptor interface layer, can be varied and
controlled easily and efficiently. The performance
parameters of the P3HT/PCBM Planar Hetero-junction
solar cell are determined for varying the mobility of
electrons and holes at active layer of the solar cell.
Mobility of charge carriers in the organic semiconductors
play important role in the performance of organic solar
cell. Photo-generated excitons diffuse to the
heterojunction interface of the organic active layer of the
cell and separated to free charge carriers (electron and
hole). In OPV cell, mobility of charge carriers is related
to the charge extraction and recombination. An increase
Figure 1. Basic structure of a Planar Hetero-junction in carrier mobility has a positive effect on the transport
Solar Cell of carriers, facilitating carrier extraction, but on the other
hand it will increase the bimolecular recombination
This is determined by the strength of the absorption, strength as well. Low mobility leads to a build-up of
the overlap of the absorption spectrum with the solar charge carriers in the solar cell, high mobility of charge
spectrum, and the thickness of the absorbing layer. An carriers give rise to an efficient extraction and decreases
increase in carrier mobility has a positive effect on carrier the charge carrier density due to fast carrier extraction,
transport, enhancing carrier extraction, but on the other which implicitly lowers the open-circuit voltage of the
hand it will increase the bimolecular recombination solar cell, affecting the performance of the solar cell.
strength as well. Disassociation of charge carriers at the Besides, during the faster extraction of charge carriers,
hetero-junction region is also governed by the charge the probability of carrier recombination also increases.
carrier mobility. For carrier mobility lower than a As a result, in case of large increase of carrier mobility
particular value decreases the dissociation [13]. As a in organic solar cell, the value of external quantum
result, at low mobility not only the increased efficiency does not increase significantly, rather, a slight
recombination reduces the solar cell performance, but increase in EQE occurs in such case.
also many of the excitons will not dissociate into free Here, the performance of the P3HT/PCBM planar
carriers and recombine to their ground state [14]. These heterojunction solar cell has been studied for different
results indicate that a high charge carrier mobility is values of electron and hole mobility. The light IV
beneficial for the performance of organic-photovoltaic characteristics of the organic solar cell for varying
(OPV) cell. Diffusion of charge carriers at the active electron mobility is shown in Figure 2(a) and the power-
layer of organic cell can be studied from the carrier voltage characteristics curve is shown in Figure 2(b).
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Here, electron and hole mobility is considered as a Maximum power transfer per unit area of the cell is found
optimum value of 5x10-4 and 1x10-4( cm2/V. s) 18.86 W. After that, keeping the hole mobility fixed to
respectively. The thickness of both donor and acceptor that optimum value, the electron mobility is increased to
layer in considered 50 nm. At this condition, the Fill the value 5x10-3, 5x10-2 , 5x10-1 ( cm2/V. s). The
Factor (FF) and EQE is obtained 0.6294 and 1.8863 % performance of the organic solar cell was studied. For the
respectively. three increasing values of electron mobility, the FF has
obtained 0.687, 694 and 0.695 and solar cell EQE 2.078,
2.102 and 2.104%, respectively. Also , Maximum output
power is found 20.78 , 21.01 and 21.03 W/m2,
respectively. It is seen that, with the increase of electron
mobility in the active region of the organic solar cell, the
efficiency, FF and output power of the cell increases. But,
it is also observed that, for large values of carrier mobility,
i.e. 5x10-2 and 5x10-1 cm2/V. s, the increase in the
efficiency and other performance parameters are very
small. For high mobility, the increasing recombination of
charge carriers and lowering open circuit voltage affects
the performance parameters of the cell. As a result, it
restricts the improvement of the efficiency, FF and
maximum output of solar cell
For power of the solar cell. Fig. 4.6 shows the Light
IV characteristics curve of the P3HT/PCBM varying hole
carrier mobility. Here, again the electron and hole
mobility is considered as a optimum value of 5x10-4 and
1x10-4 ( cm2/V. s), respectively. Then, keeping the
electron mobility fixed to that optimum value, the hole
mobility is increased to the value of 1x10-3 , 1x10-2 and
1x10-1 ( cm2/V. s). Here, the FF has obtained 0.768,
0.794 and 0.797, respectively. The EQE of 2.329, 2.406
(a) and 2.413 % resulted maximum output power of 23.29
, 24.05 and 24.13 W/m2, respectively. It is studied that,
the increase in the performance parameter values of the
solar cell with the increase of electron mobility is very
little than that of varying hole mobility. As, the effective
mass of electron is less than the hole, so with increasing
the electron mobility, the probability of carrier
recombination affect in case of electron is higher than
that of the hole. So, the variation of the values of the
efficiency, FF and maximum output power of the organic
solar cell with increasing hole carrier mobility is of less
significant. As, the mobility of hole carrier is increased,
the value of the performance parameters of the cell rises
slightly, shown in Figure 3.

Study of photo generated Carrier Concentration

Profile at P3HT/PCBM Solar cell at certain junction
electric field :
In the organic solar cell, the excitons are separated under
the electric field at the planar hetero-junction of D-A
interface of the active layer. Electric field potential is
(b) dependent on the work function of the donor and acceptor
Figure 2. (a) Light IV characteristics with varying layers of the cell. The work function is also dependant on
electron mobility (b) Power-voltage characteristics the donor and acceptor concentration. So, by varying the
with varying electron mobility donor and acceptor concentration at the active layer of
the solar cell, formed by P3HT and PCBM layer, the
work function and hence, the electric field potential at the
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 Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 7(4): 334-339, 2016

hetero-junction can be tuned easily and efficiently. In mobility, becomes nearly linear and due to increased
case of P3HT/PCBM organic solar cell, the maximum mobility of carriers, the concentration of electrons and
tunable junction voltage is 0.7 V. holes at the junction region become large.
After that, the mobility of hole at the active region
of the solar cell is increased to 4x10-2 and almost linear
carrier concentration profile has been studied, shown in
Figures 4.3(a) and 4.3 (b).

Figure 3. Light IV characteristic curve with varying

hole mobility (a)

Here, carrier concentration profile, showing both hole

and electron carrier concentration, of the organic solar
cell was studied at two different junction voltage 0.4 V
and 0.5 V. If the junction electric potential is increased,
more electrical energy will be faced by the excitons and
carrier concentration at the junction will be increased.
The carriers will be diffused to the anode and cathode
terminal. At these terminals, the concentration of the
carriers will be maximum. Here, the thickness of the
active layer is considered 100 nm and mobility of
electron in the acceptor layer and mobility of hole in
donor layer is considered 5x10-4 and 1x10-4 (cm2/V. s),
respectively. The carrier concentration profile for
junction voltage 0.4 and 0.5 V is shown on Figures 4.1
(a) and 4.1 (b). Then, the mobility of the electrons and
holes in the active region is increased and the carrier
concentration profile is studied. Keeping the hole
mobility at the donor layer fixed at 1x10 -4 cm2/V. s, the
(b)
electron mobility is increased to the value 9x10 -2 cm2/V.
Figure 4.1. (a) Carrier concentration profile at active
s. The simulation curve of carrier concentration profile at
region for junction voltage 0.4 V (b) Carrier
this condition is shown on Figures 4.2 (a) and 4.2 (b), for
concentration profile at active region for junction
both junction voltage 0.4 and 0.5 V. Here, it is seen that,
voltage 0.5 V
the carrier concentration profile for increased carrier

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 Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 7(4): 334-339, 2016

(a) (a)

(b)
(b)
Figure 4.3. (a) Carrier concentration profile at active
Figure 4.2. (a) : Carrier concentration profile at
region for junction voltage 0.4 V and increased value
active region for junction voltage 0.4 V and increased
of both electron and hole mobility (b) : Carrier
value of electron mobility (b) : Carrier concentration
concentration profile at active region for junction
profile at active region for junction voltage 0.5 V and
voltage 0.5 V and increased value of both electron
increased value of electron mobility
and hole mobility

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION summarized in Tables 1 and 2. The carrier concentration

In this research work, the current-voltage characteristics gradient of the OPV cell has been observed from the
of the P3HT/PCBM cell was studied with varying the carrier concentration profile with varying the junction
carrier mobility and the fill factor (FF) , external quantum voltage and carrier mobility and the diffusivity of the free
efficiency (EQE) and maximum output power per unit chare carriers at the active layer has been analyzed. After
area of the cell ( maximum output power density) of the analyzing, it has been obtained that, gradient of the
cell has been determined. Results of these simulations are charge carriers increases with increasing the electron and
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 Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 7(4): 334-339, 2016

hole mobility at the P3HT/PCBM active layer, so

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REFERENCES
Persian Abstract
DOI: 10.5829/idosi.ijee.2016.07.01.03
‫چکیده‬
‫ حداکثر چگالی توان و پروفایل غلظت حامل در یک سلول فتوولتاییک‬،‫ بازدهی کوانتومی خارجی‬،‫ پارامترهای عملکردی همچون ضریب پرکردن‬،‫در این مطالعه‬
‫ کلوین و آند و کاتد ایندیوم‬300 ‫ دمای‬،1.5 ‫ حجم هوای‬،‫ کیلووات بر متر مربع‬1 ‫ شبیه سازی انجام گرفته با در نظر گرفتن تابش‬.‫مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است‬
‫ پارامترهای عملکردی در جابه جایی الکترون در شرایط مختلف و در پذیرنده و الیه دهنده مورد بررسی قرار گرفته‬.‫تین اکساید و آلومینیوم انجام شده است‬
‫ وات‬24/13 ‫ و حداکثر چگالی قدرت‬% 2/413 ‫ بیشترین بازده کوانتوم خارجی برابر با‬.‫ غلظت حامل برای مقادیر مختلف ولتاژ مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است‬.‫است‬
.‫بر متر مربع بدست آمده است‬

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