Harvesting energy directly from sunlight using photovoltaic(solar cell) technology is a way to address growing global energy needs with a renewable resource while minimizing detrimental effects on the environment by reducing atmospheric emissions. Recent advances in solar power conversion efficiencies have propelled organic-based photovoltaics (OPVs) out of the realm of strictly fundamental research at the university level and into the industrial laboratory setting. Fabricated from organic materials—polymers and small molecules—these devices are potentially easier to manufacture than current technologies based on silicon or other materials. Some key advantages for OPVs are that organic small-molecule and polymer materials are inherently inexpensive; they can have very high optical absorption coefficients that permit the use of films with thicknesses of only several hundred nanometers; they are compatible with plastic substrates; and they can be fabricated using high-throughput, low temperature approaches that employ one of a variety of well-established printing techniques in a roll-to-roll process.

These are the list of recent works of our research group
 I. High Performance Organic Photovoltaics via Interface Engineering
 II. High Performance Organic Photovoltaics via Morphology Control
 III. Ordered Bulk hetrojunction Photovoltaic Cell

  A key issue faced by OPVs in general is relatively low power conversion efficiency. First and foremost, higher power conversion efficiencies must be demonstrated. Several groups are now reporting values in the 5% regime. These are very encouraging results; however, efficiencies of laboratory-scale devices must be pushed higher before large scale manufacturing can really be considered. The main focus of our laboratory in OPVs research is to demonstrate high efficiency OPVs via Device Interface Engineering, Morphology Control of Photoactive layers and Fabrication of ordered bulk hetero structures. OPVs have several interfaces can be modified. By inserting effective buffer layers, such as self-assembled monolayers and metal nanoparticles, we can control the carrier transport and enhance the incoming light intensity. Ordered bulk heterostructure reduces exciton recombination and provide straight carrier pathways to the electrodes. We fabricated well-aligned hexagonal array of p-type P3HT Nano-Rods oriented perpendicularly to the ITO glass by using AAO template. The optimized morphology of photoactive layers having high and balanced electron/hole mobility has also been accomplished by changing end function group of conducting polymers or applying solvent vapors to the active films.