Publication date: 11th March 2026
Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have reached above 20% Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) in recent years in lab-scale devices using the spin coating technique. Almost all state-of-the-art devices rely on ITO as a transparent electrode, with several limitations: the need for the rare-earth element indium, high processing temperatures, limited flexibility, and incompatibility with sputtering onto organic layers, thereby restricting the use of opaque substrates. Additionally, the top evaporated metal electrodes are largely unsuitable for industry-compatible Roll-to-Roll (R2R) coating methods.
In this study, we adopted a hybrid approach that combines the advantages of R2R vacuum and solution coating methods for fabricating organic solar modules on glass and flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in a top-illumination configuration, Glass or PET/Ag/ZnO/PM6:Y7-12/BM-HTL/AgNWs. In which the opaque silver electrode was developed on the substrate via R2R sputtering to achieve low sheet resistance and reduced surface roughness as a replacement for the top evaporated opaque metal electrode of a typical OPV device. As an ITO replacement, silver nanowires were coated via the slot-die method to serve as a top transparent electrode, suitable for device fabrication on many opaque substrates. The remaining layers in the devices, including the photoactive layer, the electron transport layer, and the hole transport layer, were optimized via R2R-compatible slot-die coating under ambient conditions with green solvents. The fabricated small cells for the best devices on glass substrates achieved a PCE of 13.5 %, using this ITO-free scalable OPV architecture. An equally impressive PCE of 12.5% was attained when the devices were scaled up to mini-modules with an active area of 12.8 cm² on glass substrates. Furthermore, six mini-modules on a PET substrate measuring 24 cm x 17 cm were developed, reaching PCE up to 11.5 %, the highest reported in this category. Finally, the commercial potential of this method was demonstrated by the development of a mobile charger featuring modules with an active area exceeding 100 cm², achieving a remarkable PCE of 9.9%. This research highlights the potential for developing high-performance, cost-efficient, and mechanically adaptable ITO-free devices using industry-compatible methods.
The authors acknowledge that this work has been realized through an industrial project, supported by an industrial partner. This industrial partner has received financial support from DOGA (preliminary project), the Research Council of Norwayand Innovation Norway. M.M. and E.J. acknowledge financial support fromDFF FTP for the project EPIC-OPV, grant no. 1032-00326B. M.M., C.Y.H.,and K.W. acknowledge financial support from the Independent ResearchFund Denmark, Green Research (DFF Green), for the project LESOT (grantnumber 3164-00305B)
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