Recent coating materials for textile-based solar cells

Electronic textiles may be used to monitor a person’s vital function, to offer information or navigation, and to support people in daily life. One crucial problem, however, is the energy supply needed for such electronic functions. One of the possibilities discussed for this purpose is the integration of solar cells into garments. While silicon-based solar cells are mostly rigid or can in the meantime also be prepared in the shape of relatively flexible foils, the approach to integrate solar cell functionality into a textile fabric goes one step further. In this case, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), polymer or organic solar cells are advantageous. During the last years, promising advances are reported in the literature, discussing new materials for the different layers of such flexible solar cells. This review gives an overview of the recent materials used for creating flexible solar cells on textile fabrics or fibers.