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).
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.
What's included
7 videos9 readings3 assignments
Show info about module content
7 videos•Total 52 minutes
The Instructors•2 minutes
Introduction•10 minutes
3 Generations of Solar Cells•12 minutes
Tutorial - Introduction•2 minutes
Tutorial - Terms and Abbreviations•10 minutes
Life Cycle Analysis - Part I•9 minutes
Life Cycle Analysis - Part II•7 minutes
9 readings•Total 81 minutes
Welcome•1 minute
Terms and abbreviations•10 minutes
Solar energy•10 minutes
Solar cells•10 minutes
Solar cells - the three generations•10 minutes
Life cycle analysis•10 minutes
Comparison of OPV with other technologies•10 minutes
Environmental impacts of OPV•10 minutes
Interpreting the results for OPV•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 90 minutes
Solar cells•30 minutes
Getting to Know the OPV Jargon•30 minutes
LCA•30 minutes
Organic and Polymer Solar Cells
Module 2•4 hours to complete
Module details
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.
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.
What's included
6 videos10 readings3 assignments
Show info about module content
6 videos•Total 103 minutes
Materials in the Active Layer•9 minutes
Polymers•7 minutes
Synthesis•7 minutes
Characterization of Polymers•7 minutes
Examples from Literature•6 minutes
Recorded Live Session II•65 minutes
10 readings•Total 100 minutes
Conjugated polymers•10 minutes
Side chains•10 minutes
Important materials•10 minutes
Suggested Materials•10 minutes
Polymer synthesis•10 minutes
Purification•10 minutes
UV-vis spectroscopy•10 minutes
Electrochemical measurements•10 minutes
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)•10 minutes
Size exclusion chromatography•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 90 minutes
Materials•30 minutes
Polymerization•30 minutes
Characterization•30 minutes
Stability and Degradation
Module 4•5 hours to complete
Module details
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.
What's included
7 videos9 readings3 assignments
Show info about module content
7 videos•Total 107 minutes
Stability and Degradation - Introduction•8 minutes
Decay Curves•6 minutes
ISOS Standards•12 minutes
Stability Examples•7 minutes
Morphological Stability •4 minutes
Electrical Defects•9 minutes
Recorded Live Session III•61 minutes
9 readings•Total 90 minutes
Degradation and stability•10 minutes
Morphological stability•10 minutes
Suggested Materials•10 minutes
Suggested Materials•10 minutes
ISOS standards•10 minutes
Morphological stability•10 minutes
Flexibility and delamination•10 minutes
Polymer stability•10 minutes
LBIC•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 90 minutes
Decay Curves•30 minutes
ISOS•30 minutes
Stability and Degradation•30 minutes
Solar Cell Fabrication
Module 5•4 hours to complete
Module details
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.
What's included
7 videos12 readings2 assignments
Show info about module content
7 videos•Total 103 minutes
Coating - Part I•10 minutes
Coating - Part II•5 minutes
Printing - Part I•6 minutes
Printing - Part II•14 minutes
Upscaling•13 minutes
Testing and Encapsulation•8 minutes
Recorded Live Session IV•47 minutes
12 readings•Total 120 minutes
Spin coating•10 minutes
Blade coating•10 minutes
Spray coating•10 minutes
Slot die coating•10 minutes
Screen printing•10 minutes
Flexographic printing•10 minutes
Gravure printing•10 minutes
Inkjet•10 minutes
Lab scale fabrication•10 minutes
Roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing•10 minutes
Inks•10 minutes
Suggested Materials•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 42 minutes
Coating•30 minutes
Printing•12 minutes
Wrapping Up
Module 6•2 hours to complete
Module details
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.
What's included
3 videos1 reading1 assignment
Show info about module content
3 videos•Total 63 minutes
Going Large Scale•9 minutes
Realizing the Solar Park•11 minutes
Recorded Live Session V•43 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
Acknowledgements•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
Final Exam•30 minutes
Instructor
Instructor ratings
Instructor ratings
We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.
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.
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Learner reviews
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1,238 reviews
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Showing 3 of 1238
J
JS
5·
Reviewed on Jan 21, 2016
I learned new skills and theory about OPV. It's a very comprehensive and well structured course. I recommend it to every person who wants to improve their knowledge in solar panels technology.
S
SD
4·
Reviewed on Sep 13, 2015
Maybe I missed the pre-requisites - I was unable to complete some of the questions correctly because I did not see any examples of how to answer the questions calling for calculations of formulas.
M
MR
5·
Reviewed on Oct 17, 2015
Great course, lots of material but really well presented. Touches all aspects of the organic solar cell production and the physical and chemical fundamentals behind it.
Organic Solar Cells - Theory and Practice is a specialized course on organic solar cells. If you are looking for a more general course we can strongly recommend Introduction to solar cells (https://www.coursera.org/learn/solar-cells). as an alternative
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