About this course: The goal of the course is to give students awareness of the largest alternative form of energy and how organic / polymer solar cells can harvest this energy. The course provides an insight into the theory behind organic solar cells and describes the three main research areas within the field i.e. materials, stability and processing. NOTE: This course is a specialized course on organic solar cells. If you are looking for a more general solar cell course, we strongly recommend Introduction to solar cells (https://www.coursera.org/learn/solar-cells).
Created by: Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Taught by: Eva Bundgaard, PhD, Senior Scientist
DTU Energy
Taught by: Frederik C. Krebs, PhD, Professor
DTU Energy
Taught by: Mikkel Jørgensen, PhD, Senior Scientist
DTU Energy
Taught by: Morten Vesterager Madsen, Researcher
DTU Energy
| Commitment | 10 hours videos and quizzes |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Solar Cells and Life Cycle Analysis
By the end of the module we have set the following goals for you: -You should have gained knowledge on solar cells, and their place as a renewable energy -Be able to distinguish between different solar cell technologies -Describe the difference between the three generations of solar cells -Identify the four steps of life cycle analysis -Determine differences between embedded energy, energy return factor, and energy payback time.
7 videos, 2 readings
- Video: The Instructors
- Video: Introduction
- Video: 3 Generations of Solar Cells
- Video: Tutorial - Introduction
- Video: Tutorial - Terms and Abbreviations
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Life Cycle Analysis - Part I
- Video: Life Cycle Analysis - Part II
- Reading: Reading Materials
Graded: Solar cells
Graded: Getting to Know the OPV Jargon
Graded: LCA
WEEK 2
Organic and Polymer Solar Cells
By the end of this module you should: -Be able to identify the different steps in the theory behind the solar cells -Be able to measure the efficiency of a solar cell -Be able to describe the different layers in the solar cell and understand their function -Be ready to argue for different applications of the solar cells.
6 videos, 3 readings
- Video: OPV Working Principles
- Video: How to Characterize Solar Cells
- Video: Tutorial - IV Curves
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Layers in the Solar Cell
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Applications
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Recorded Live Session I
Graded: Determine Solar Cell Parameters
Graded: Working Principles
WEEK 3
Materials in Solar Cells
By the end of this module you should: -Know why we need conjugated polymers and side chains -Know about low band gap polymers -Be able to identify the most common polymerization methods -Be familiar with common characterization techniques used with the materials -Know about acceptor materials used in the active layer of organic solar cells.
6 videos, 3 readings
- Video: Materials in the Active Layer
- Video: Polymers
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Synthesis
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Characterization of Polymers
- Video: Examples from Literature
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Recorded Live Session II
Graded: Materials
Graded: Polymerization
Graded: Characterization
WEEK 4
Stability and Degradation
By the end of this module you should: -Be able to identify different kinds of degradation behaviours -Know about decay curves, including concepts such as burn-in and T80 -Distinguish between different ISOS standards.
7 videos, 3 readings
- Video: Stability and Degradation - Introduction
- Video: Decay Curves
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: ISOS Standards
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Stability Examples
- Video: Morphological Stability
- Video: Electrical Defects
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Recorded Live Session III
Graded: Decay Curves
Graded: ISOS
Graded: Stability and Degradation
WEEK 5
Solar Cell Fabrication
By the end of this module you will be able to: -Describe the lab scale techniques and the pros and cons -Describe the difference between coating and printing -Identify the different coating and printing techniques.
7 videos, 3 readings
- Video: Coating - Part I
- Video: Coating - Part II
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Printing - Part I
- Video: Printing - Part II
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Upscaling
- Video: Testing and Encapsulation
- Reading: Reading Materials
- Video: Recorded Live Session IV
Graded: Coating
Graded: Printing
WEEK 6
Wrapping Up
This is the final module of the course and it is almost time to sit back and congratulate yourself! You just have two more videos and an exam to complete.
3 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Going Large Scale
- Video: Realizing the Solar Park
- Video: Recorded Live Session V
- Reading: Acknowledgements
Graded: Final Exam
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Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
DTU focuses on research in technical and natural sciences that contributes to the development of society. As an industrially orientated university, our goal is to supply high-level international research based on combining theory with constructing models and empirical methods.
Ratings and Reviews
Fun, informational course. There was a good deal of insight and information. There were some problems however with the quizzes and in the reporting of answers that led to a decrease in the overall quality.
This is a unique course that explores almost all aspects of solar cell making
Very nice course to learn the basics on OPV.
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It is a really wonderful course. I will certainly recommend people in Photovoltaics to go through it.