# Semi-Transparent Organic Photovoltaic for Agrivoltaic Applications

Camille Frouin, Ruoxue He, Bernard Ratier, Sylvain Vedraine, Olivier

Margeat, Johann Bouclé

► To cite this version:

Camille Frouin, Ruoxue He, Bernard Ratier, Sylvain Vedraine, Olivier Margeat, et al. Semi-Transparent Organic Photovoltaic for Agrivoltaic Applications. Symposium de Génie Electrique (SGE 2025) / Journées annuelles du PEPR TASE, Jun 2025, Toulouse, France. . hal-05147368

HAL Id: hal-05147368

https://unilim.hal.science/hal-05147368v1

Submitted on 25 Jul 2025

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# Semi-Transparent Organic Photovoltaic for Agrivoltaic Applications

Priority Research Programme on
Technologies for Advanced Energy
Systems (TASE)

SMART4MODULE

https://www.pepr-tase.fr/projet/smart4module/

Camille Frouin¹*, Ruoxue He¹, Bernard Ratier¹, Sylvain Vedraine¹, Olivier Margeat²*, Johann Bouclé¹*

¹Univ. Limoges, CNRS, XLIM, UMR 7252, F-87000 Limoges, France

²Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, CINaM, UMR 7325, F-13000 Marseille, France

* camille.frouin@xlim.fr, * johann.boucle@unilim.fr, * olivier.margeat@univ-amu.fr

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This work is the result of the collaboration involving four laboratories: XLIM Research Institute (Limoges), CINaM (Marseille), IM2NP (Marseille), and Laplace (Toulouse) as part of the SMAR4MODULE project in the PEPR TASE program. The objective of this project is to develop aesthetic and transparent photovoltaic solutions. To address this challenge, the project aims to develop low-cost and printable semi-transparent organic photovoltaic (ST-OPV) modules optimized for agrivoltaics (Agri-PV). Agri-PV enables the simultaneous conversion of solar energy and agricultural production on the same surface (arable land or greenhouses). The OPV technology offers constant improving performance, low specific weight, short energy payback time, and high flexibility, making it a promising candidate for integration into small urban greenhouses. This work focuses on the design and characterization of a first generation of reference semi-transparent OPV devices, with light transmission tailored to the wavelengths required for plant photosynthesis, consistent with the standard Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) spectrum. The selected active layer, based on the PM6:Y6 blend, meets this criterion and has been integrated into inverted OPV architectures. [1]

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Laplace

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Traditional Greenhouse
Plastic cladding

Greenhouse Agrivoltaics Systems

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Opaque PV
Substrate

PV
Substrate

Thin PV
Substrate

Organic PV
Substrate

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Substrate

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[2]

## I. Choosing an active layer tailored for the absorption of photosynthetic systems

The PM6:Y6 active layer exhibits a transmission compatible with the absorption of photosynthetic systems:

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Devices fabricated at lab scale (active area 0.10-0.15cm²)

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PM6 (PBD:B-T-2F)

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Bulk heterojunction inverted structure

ITO/ZnO(20nm)/PM6:Y6(100nm)/MoO₃(10nm)/Ag(100, 15 & 10nm)

## II. Obtaining Semi-Transparent devices

The semi-transparent devices were obtained by reducing **the thickness** of the silver electrode

* Increased transmittance of Silver layer as a function of decreasing thickness

* Decreased reflection of Silver layer as a function of decreasing thickness

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Silver electrodes deposited by thermal evaporation

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Ag 100nm : Percolation threshold reached

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Ag 15nm : Percolation threshold reached

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Ag 10nm : Percolation not threshold reached

## III. Photovoltaic performance under AM1.5G

<table><thead><tr><th>Silver Thickness</th><th>V<sub>oc</sub>(V)</th><th>J<sub>sc</sub>(mA/cm<sup>2</sup>)<sup>a</sup></th><th>J<sub>sc</sub>(mA/cm<sup>2</sup>)<sup>b</sup></th><th>FF(%)</th><th>PCE (%)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>100nm</td><td>0.73 ± 0.01</td><td>20.30 ± 1.05</td><td>20.03</td><td>57.78 ± 1.29</td><td>8.55 ± 0.43</td></tr><tr><td>15nm</td><td>0.73 ± 0.01</td><td>16.49 ± 1.50</td><td>16.13</td><td>58.29 ± 2.93</td><td>6.99 ± 0.70</td></tr><tr><td>10nm</td><td colspan="5">Devices not working</td></tr></tbody></table>

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## V. Perspectives

Optical simulations to find the best compromise between photovoltaic performance and transmission for plant growth

Research on new donor:acceptor systems for the application

Integration of printable semi-transparent electrodes based on silver nanowires

Scaling up to small printable modules (New acceptor Y12)

## References :

[1] Nannan Yao, ACS Appl. Energy Mater 4 (2021) 14335-14341

[2] Song, Nano Energy 116 (2023) 108805

## IV. Transmission of the devices

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Transmission of the ST-OPV matching with the absorption of photosynthetic systems:

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Crop growth Factor (CGF): **19.9%**

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Average visible transmittance : **15.9%**

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λ is the wavelength, T(λ) the transmittance of the OPV, PAR(λ) the photosynthetic action spectrum, PR(λ) the photopic response of a human eye and Γ(λ) the solar spectrum AM1.5G

$$CGF = \frac{\int T(\lambda)PAR(\lambda)\Gamma(\lambda)d\lambda}{\int PAR(\lambda)\Gamma(\lambda)d\lambda}$$

$$AVT = \frac{\int T(\lambda)PR(\lambda)\Gamma(\lambda)d\lambda}{\int PR(\lambda)\Gamma(\lambda)d\lambda}$$

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<footnote>a Calculated from J-V curve</footnote>

<footnote>b Calculated from External Quantum Efficiency curve (EQE)</footnote>