Stability, encapsulation and large-area fabrication of organic photovoltaics

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have become a timely research topic for their advantages of light weight, low cost, low toxicity, environmental adaptability, flexibility, and large-area manufacture, especially after non-fullerene acceptor ITIC reported in 2015. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) is currently above 18% for OPV. However, there are still imparities in the efficiency of OPVs when compared with silicon-based photovoltaics, as well as in their shelf life. Compared with inorganic-based photovoltaics, the efficiency of large-area OPVs is lower and the life time of OPVs is shorter. Therefore, such inferior performance of large-area OPVs restricts the commercial development. Based on these constraints, this paper reviews the research work regarding OPVs into three aspects: stability, encapsulation technology, and recent large-area preparation technologies. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].