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The increasing energy demands of the global community can be met with solar energy. Solution-processed organic solar cells have seen great progress in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) have made enormous progress in recent years and have been considered one of the most promising solar cell technologies for applications in building-integrated windows, agricultural greenhouses, and wearable energy resources. Therefore, through the synergistic efforts of transparent electrodes, engineering in near-infrared photoabsorbent materials, and device engineering, high-performance ST-OSCs have developed, and PCE and average visible transmittance reach over 10% and 40%, respectively. In this review, we present the recent progress in photoabsorbent material engineering and strategies for enhancing the performance of ST-OSCs to help researchers gain a better understanding of structure–property–performance relationships. To conclude, new design concepts in material engineering and outlook are proposed to facilitate the further development of high-performance ST-OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) have great promise for next-generation solar energy conversion technologies. Innovative acceptors are constantly being designed to improve device efficiency. In this work, we designed and synthesized a series of A–π–D–π–A type non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) molecules, named IB-TOT, IB-TOM, IB-IOO, and IB-IOM for their applications in OSCs. All molecules showed high thermal stability, broad photoabsorption, and relatively lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels from −5.48 eV to −5.58 eV. The optimized OSCs based on these NFAs and PTB7-Th donor deliver power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 8.19%, 5.50%, 2.42%, and 3.10% for IB-TOT, IB-TOM, IB-IOO, and IB-IOM molecules, respectively. The higher PCE of IB-TOT-based OSCs is attributed to their excellent miscibility and superior interpenetrating network morphology compared to the other three compounds. These results demonstrate that using the 3-ethylrhodanine acceptor unit to construct the NFA molecule is a successful approach for outstanding achievement in OSCs. • Four IDT-based NFA molecules were designed and synthesized. • The impact of various end-groups on device performance was fully discussed. • An empirical relationship between the end groups was established. • The best-performing OSCs achieved a maximum PCE of 8.19%. • The work promotes future OSC performance enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]