A study about lifetime of photovoltaic fibers

In this study, the stability of polymer-based photovoltaic fibers was investigated in ambient and inert atmosphere. Photovoltaic (PV) fibers, similarly produced by using both polymer blend of wide and low bandgap polymers (P3HT: PTB7: PCDTBT) and only wide bandgap (P3HT) polymer with (6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) in active layer were measured in ambient and in inert environment after dark storage, and then, their photovoltaic performances and stabilities were compared. Maximum power conversion efficiency of 2.01% was obtained from photovoltaic fiber with P3HT: PTB7: PCDTBT polymer blend. When stability results were considered, at end of 7th day, photovoltaic fibers having P3HT: PTB7: PCDTBT:PCBM active layer showed better performance than P3HT: PCBM-based PV fibers.