Work

Semitransparent organic photovoltaics with wide geographical adaptability as sustainable smart windows

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Semitransparent organic photovoltaics (ST-OPVs) have gained significant attention due to their rapid iteration of high-efficiency photoactive materials and potential applications in building-integrated photovoltaics as smart windows. In this work, we establish a parameter (FoMLUE) to evaluate the potential of photoactive materials for ST-OPVs, combining average visual transmittance, bandgap, and current density. PBOF and eC9 exhibit the highest FoMLUE values of 0.084 and 0.161 for the investigated donors and acceptors, respectively. We achieve a light utilization efficiency of 6.05% as the figure of merit for all semitransparent solar cells. The derived ST-OPV exhibits enhanced thermal insulation and operational stability compared to its counterpart. The geographical analysis indicates that the hot summer/warm winter zone is the most suitable for ST-OPV glazing windows, delivering an annual total energy-saving of 1.43 GJ m-2. Our results demonstrate the multifunctionality and geographical factors of ST-OPVs for constructing sustainable energy-saving smart windows. Yu et al. report a parameter for screening photoactive materials for semitransparent organic photovoltaics, enabling a light utilization efficiency of 6.05%. Geographical analysis are also conducted and indicates that the hot summer/warm winter zone is more suitable for deploying smart windows.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62546-8