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Nature Materials (2026)
Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are a pathway to sustainable energy solutions in various applications, but the challenge of developing materials that simultaneously fulfil stringent cost, efficiency and stability requirements has limited widespread adoption. Here we examine the critical factors shaping the transition of OPV materials from laboratory research to real-world deployment, focusing on materials design, scalable manufacturing and device reliability. Recent laboratory-scale proof-of-concept and prototype demonstrations have advanced the development of OPV materials with device efficiencies that exceed 21%, yet overcoming scale-up challenges remains essential for commercial viability. To facilitate this lab-to-fab transition, we discuss four key aspects that are expected to define the next decade of sustainable OPV: cost-effectiveness, green solvents for processing, stability and efficiency. By integrating these considerations, we highlight the advantages of OPV materials, including high power-to-weight ratios, intrinsic mechanical flexibility and tailored spectral selectivity for greenhouse agrivoltaics, to accelerate their commercialization.
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D.B. and A.S. thank the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) for support under award no. OSR-2019-CARF/CCF-3079. Part of the research reported in this publication was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies, under award number 5937. J.H. thanks the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and is grateful for support during his stay with T. B. Marder’s group at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg.
Jianhua Han
Present address: State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontier Science Center for Smart Materials, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
Material Science and Engineering Program (MSE), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Jianhua Han, Han Xu, Daniel Corzo, Anirudh Sharma & Derya Baran
Institut für Anorganische Chemie and Institute for Sustainable Chemistry & Catalysis with Boron (ICB), Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Jianhua Han
Sensor Systems, Silicon Austria Labs GmbH, Villach, Austria
Daniel Corzo
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D.B. and J.H. contributed to the conception, writing and editing of every section of the Review. J.H. drafted the initial paper, and H.X., D.C. and A.S. thoroughly edited and refined each section, providing valuable insights. All authors contributed to discussing, editing and reviewing the paper before submission.
Correspondence to Derya Baran.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Materials thanks Bryon Larson, Chang-Zhi Li and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Han, J., Xu, H., Corzo, D. et al. Pathways to commercially viable organic photovoltaic materials. Nat. Mater. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02501-0
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