Determination of the degradation constant of bulk heterojunction solar cells by accelerated lifetime measurements

• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-003-2499-4
• Publication Date: 2004-03-19T13:47:04Z
• Authors: S. Schuller; P. Schilinsky; J. Hauch; C.J. Brabec
• Keywords: Degradation; Time constant; Arrhenius plot; Constant (computer programming)

Temperature accelerated lifetime measurements are applied to conjugated polymer based bulk heterojunction solar cells. The short circuit current under white light illumination is monitored over time for different temperatures, ranging from 40 °C to 105 °C. An Arrhenius type dependence of the degradation constant with temperature is observed and an activation energy Ea of ∼350 meV is derived.