Charge transport modelling of perovskite solar cells and organic thermoelectrics

To develop new materials to convert light or heat to usable electrical energy, we need a thorough understanding of the physical processes that play at the micro- and nanoscale.

We developed a simulation software for solar cells that we continuously update with the latest interests of the research community. We have added new features that allow better simulation of a new type of solar cell, namely, the perovskite solar cell. The beauty of this type of solar cell is that it can have good power-conversion efficiency, despite many defects being present in constituent materials. Typically, focus is placed on reducing the number of defects to increase efficiency. We, however, looked at ways of optimizing efficiency for a given (large) number of defects because reducing the defect density is tricky in reality. Besides using this software ourselves, we have also made it open-source for other researchers to use.

Next to our research in solar cells, we have also looked at organic thermoelectrics, in which heat is converted to electrical energy. These organic materials are especially well suited for low-temperature application, such as body head harvesting. We found that electron-electron interactions are likely a big problem in these materials. These interactions can reduce the conversion efficiency dramatically, so it is of high importance to reduce these in the next generation of materials.