News Release

Leading experts in organic solar cells say the field is being damaged by questionable reports

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Elsevier

Oxford, UK, October 15, 2007 – In the latest issue of Elsevier’s Materials Today (http://www.materialstoday.com) the leading magazine for researchers in areas of advanced materials science, Dr. Gilles Dennler of Konarka Austria GmbH and twenty other experts warn that an unseemly race to report organic solar cells (OSCs) with world record efficiencies is leading to a significant number of published papers claiming unrealistic and scientifically questionable results and performances.

“World record efficiencies are popping up almost every month, leading the OSC community into an endless and dangerous tendency to outbid the last report,” stated Dennler et al. in the article. “The current outbidding phenomenon does a severe disservice to the whole community, damaging its reputation. Solar cells and especially OSCs face enough difficulties in convincing people of their benefit over other energy sources.”

OSCs are potentially cheap and easy to fabricate. This makes them very attractive in comparison to the familiar silicon solar cells, which struggle to compete in cost with other energy sources. The promise of OSCs means the field is burgeoning. However, OSCs still show relatively low efficiencies that will need to improve significantly before they become a success.

Dennler and colleagues urge the field to press for independent verification of solar cell efficiencies. They call on researchers to question their results and constantly push the accuracy of their findings and ask journal editors to review claims of significant advances thoroughly.

“In essence, this should be a good thing. Increasing the number of people focused on this tremendous renewable will hopefully help solve the planet’s energy needs,” adds Dennler. “Unfortunately, OSCs currently suffer from their own success.”

The increasing number of researchers and choice of where to publish results means that everyone is finding it increasingly difficult to gain an impact within the community. The result is a pursuit of eye-catching claims of solar cell efficiencies.

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Notes to Editors:
The opinions expressed in the Materials Today article are solely those of the author and signatories and do not represent those of Konarka Austria GmbH.

The signatories to this article are:

T. Ameri*, P. Denk*, H.-J. Egelhaaf*, K. Forberich*, M. Koppe*, M. Morana*, M. C. Scharber*, C. Waldauf*, Konarka Austria GmbH, Austria

B. de Boer, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

K. Emery, G. Rumbles, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA

J. M. Kroon, Solar Energy – Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, The Netherlands

G. G. Malliaras, Cornell University, USA

M. D. McGehee, Stanford University, USA

J. Nelson, Imperial College, London, UK

M. Niggemann, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany

M. Pfeiffer, Heliatek GmbH, Germany

M. K. Riede, Institut für Angewandte Photophysik, Germany

S. E. Shaheen, University of Colorado, Denver, USA

M. Wienk, University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

About Materials Today

Materials Today (http://www.materialstoday.com) is an international review magazine for researchers with an interest in materials science and technology. It reaches over 18 000 researchers each month with coverage of fast-moving and emerging topics in advanced materials.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier’s 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).


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