Symposium E, "Photovoltaic Technologies - Materials, Devices and Systems," and Symposium H, "Small Molecule Organic Solar Cells," were held Nov. 25-30 at the 2012 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Energy needs have been forecast to at least double within the next fifty years. Therefore, unless renewable energy can cover the large deficit that fossil fuels can no longer furnish, the stage is set for a major energy shortage. One promising solution is the conversion of solar energy into usable electric power. However, in conventional single-junction solar cells, the maximum efficiency for the conversion of unconcentrated solar radiation is 31%, because a significant part of solar energy is lost due to thermalization of photocarriers, and another part is lost due to poor or no absorption of below band gap photons. This symposium volume is focused on approaches proposed for reaching or exceeding the SQ thermodynamic limit of solar energy conversion.
