Publication date: 15th December 2025
Understanding the relation between photocurrent losses, voltage losses, and the energetics of the active layer is at the heart of current research on organic solar cells (OCS). In particular, achieving a high
requires that energy losses during the exciton-to-free charge conversion is minimized. In fact, it is claimed that state-of-the-art non-fullerene acceptor-based devices efficiently generate photocurrent for a negligible HOMO offset, unlike fullerene-based devices, and that this is one of the reasons for the success of NFA-based solar cells.
Here, we present experimental and theoretical evidence that low-offset DA blends are fundamentally limited by inefficient exciton dissociation. Under realistic conditions, this translates into a minimum HOMO offset of ca. 300 meV, meaning that low offset blends cannot be efficient. We will also address the question of whether (and under what conditions) CT dissociation becomes inefficient. Finally, we will discuss the conditions under which the energy offset can be further reduced without compromising photocurrents.
