Efficiency limit of excitonic photovoltaic cells under phosphor-based white LED illumination

Highlights

• Efficiency limit of excitonic photovoltaic cells under phosphor-based LED bulbs is simulated.

• Effect of optical energy gap and exciton-dissociation loss on efficiency is discussed.

• The optimum optical energy gaps for indoor applications are within 1.80–1.91 eV.

• Maximum efficiency reaches 50% for exciton-dissociation loss smaller than 0.3 eV.

Abstract

The limit of energy conversion of excitonic photovoltaic cells working under white light illumination generated by phosphor-based LED is analysed using the modified Giebink approach. Particularly, the impact of the optical energy gap and energy loss associated with the excitons dissociation at the heterojunction interface on power conversion efficiency of the device are discussed. From the results of our study it follows that the optimal optical energy gap value of organic materials equals 1.87–1.91 eV for the cool light and 1.80–1.82 eV for the warm light. The value of maximum power efficiency reaches 50%, if the energy loss related to excitons dissociation at the interface ED/EA is smaller than 0.3 eV and it decreases up to 40%, if the energy loss reaches the value of 0.5 eV. The obtained results reveal the direction of further improvement of efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells for indoor applications.