Shy Organic Photovoltaics: Digitally Printed Organic Solar Modules With Hidden Interconnects

One of the biggest attractions of the organic photovoltaics (OPV) technology is the easiness with which it can be integrated. However, despite its semitransparency and wide variety of colors, a major unresolved challenge is to fabricate optically inconspicuous organic photovoltaic modules (OPV‐M) that can be integrated into visually demanding products. This is dominantly due to the visual obstruction from Z‐interconnection lines inherent to module processing with classical patterning methods. We now present for the first time a solution to this problem, which utilizes a visually seamless interconnection method to elegantly minimize the conspicuity of the interconnection regime. We realize such invisible interconnects by inkjet printing highly conductive silver lines, which penetrate the solar cell stack and form an electrical connection between adjacent cells. A combined characterization approach utilizing in‐depth electrical characterization and finite element (FEM) simulation rationalizes the excellent electrical cell‐to‐cell contact established with this interconnection technology. We combine this technology with a variable‐geometry module design into an innovative digital inkjet printing platform for the production of state‐of‐the art but visually attractive solar modules. The full potential of this concept is demonstrated by a fully inkjet printed arbitrarily shaped OPV‐M portrait.