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Fair and meaningful device per- formance comparison among luminescent solar concentrator- photovoltaic (LSC-PV) reports cannot be realized without a gen- eral consensus on reporting stan- dards in LSC-PV research. There- fore, it is imperative to adopt standardized characterization protocols for these emerging types of PV devices that are consistent with other PV devices. This commentary highlights several common limitations in LSC literature and summarizes the best practices moving for- ward to harmonize with standard PV reporting, considering the greater nuances present with LSC-PV. Based on these prac- tices, a checklist of actionable items is provided to help stan- dardize the characterization/re- porting protocols and offer a set of baseline expectations for au- thors, reviewers, and editors. The general consensus combined with the checklist will ultimately guide LSC-PV research towards reliable and meaningful ad- vances.

Chenchen Yang joined the materials science program at Michigan State University in 2015 to work under Prof. Lunt in the Molecular and Organic Excitonics Lab. He earned his B.E. from the University of Electronic Science and Engineering of China in 2012. Then, he obtained his M.S. from University of Florida in 2015. His current research focuses on transparent solar cell synthesis, fabrication, and characterization. Dianyi Liu obtained his PhD in inorganic chemistry from Lanzhou University in 2009. He then worked as a postdoc at Peking University, the University of Saskatchewan, and Michigan State University. He began as an assistant professor at Westlake University in January 2019. His research interests include flexible electronics, optoelectronic materials, and devices. Matthew Bates is a graduate student in chemical engineering at Michigan State University working in the Molecular and Organic Excitonic Lab led by Prof. Lunt. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Oregon State University in 2016. He is focused on developing transparent photovoltaics. Miles Barr is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Ubiquitous Energy in Redwood City, CA. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in chemical engineering. He then co-founded Ubiquitous Energy and has grown the company through pilot manufacturing, serving as both CEO and CTO. His team is currently working to develop, scale up, and commercialize transparent solar technology for a variety of end applications. Richard R. Lunt is the Johansen Crosby Endowed Professor at Michigan State University in the Departments of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science and Physics. He earned his B.S. from the University of Delaware and his PhD from Princeton University. He then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at MIT. His group focuses on understanding and exploiting excitonic photophysics and molecular crystal growth to develop unique thin-film optoelectronic devices. He is known for his pioneering work on transparent solar cells.

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) methods significantly augment the capabilities of traditional surface modification techniques for designing polymeric surfaces. In CVD polymerization, the monomer(s) are delivered to the surface through the vapor phase and then undergo simultaneous polymerization and thin film formation. By eliminating the need to dissolve macromolecules, CVD enables insoluble polymers to be coated and prevents solvent damage to the substrate. Since de-wetting and surface tension effects are absent, CVD coatings conform to the geometry of the underlying substrate. Hence, CVD polymers can be readily applied to virtually any substrate: organic, inorganic, rigid, flexible, planar, three-dimensional, dense, or porous. CVD methods integrate readily with other vacuum processes used to fabricate patterned surfaces and devices. CVD film growth proceeds from the substrate up, allowing for interfacial engineering, real-time monitoring, thickness control, and the synthesis of films with graded composition. This article focuses on two CVD polymerization methods that closely translate solution chemistry to vapor deposition; initiated CVD and oxidative CVD. The basic concepts underlying these methods and the resultant advantages over other thin film coating techniques are described, along with selected applications where CVD polymers are an enabling technology., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contract DAAD-19-02-D-0002)

In the version of this Review originally published, the Fig. 7a y-axis unit was incorrectly given as ‘mW cm2’; it should have read ‘mW cm–2’. This has now been corrected in all versions of the Review.

Vacuum and solution processed versions of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) are used as cathode interlayers in inverted organic photovoltaic cells comprising tetraphenyldibenzoperiflanthene as the electron donor and C60 as the electron acceptor. Chemical treatment of the as-deposited PEDOT layers with tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene or cesium carbonate reduces the work function by up to 0.8 eV. Inserting these PEDOT layers at the indium tin oxide cathode results in improved electron collection and efficiencies of up to 2.3 ± 0.2%, approaching the 3.2 ± 0.3% of the conventional device. This illustrates the potential for efficient polymer cathode materials and inverted device architectures compatible with either solution or vacuum processing.