Publication date: 15th December 2025
Organic photovoltaics (OPV) has developed from a laboratory curiosity some decades ago into a technology that is now being successfully commercialized. Certified power conversion efficiencies are exceeding 20% in the laboratory [1] and first commercial modules have passed the same stringent IEC & UL tests used to evaluate the quality and stability of silicon PV, the incumbent technology [2]. With properties like mechanical flexibility and a weight of <2kg/m² as well as tunable absorption/transmission, OPV is in particular suited for the built environment and distributed power generation, and for surfaces standard silicon PV cannot be used on (e.g. curved surfaces, low load bearing constructions, semitransparent windows etc.). These additional markets are estimated to be several TWp in size [3,4]. At the same time, first life cycle analysis (LCA) data of OPV modules made on real production equipment confirm the long postulated lower environmental impact, e.g. demonstrated less than 25% of the CO2e/Wp per OPV module compared to the average silicon PV module, making OPV greener than any other commercial PV technology [5]. In this presentation, the state-of-the art vacuum-processed OPV is reviewed as well as challenges and opportunities discussed to improve power conversion efficiency in the fab beyond 10% and keeping lifetimes >20 years when rapidly scaling this technology to TWp.
[1] Chen et al., Nature Materials 24, 444 (2025); Wang et al., Advanced Materials 37, e10378 (2025)
[2] Heliatek GmbH, https://www.heliatek.com/en/media/news/detail/heliatek-achieves-iec-61215-certification-for-lightweight-flexible-heliasolr-solar-film/ & https://www.heliatek.com/en/media/news/detail/heliatek-receives-ul-certification-gateway-to-the-north-american-market/
[3] Joshi et al., Nature Communications 12, 5738 (2020)
[4] Traverse et al., Nature Energy 2, 849 (2017)
[5] Heliatek GmbH, https://www.heliatek.com/en/technology/sustainability/
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