摘要： The deployment of renewable energy sources is crucial for moving towards a sustainable society. In this context, photovoltaic (PV) solar energy conversion is a clean and practical technology with huge potential. However, it is not yet widely deployed; PV efficiency optimization and cost reductions could significantly expedite the uptake of novel solar technologies. To meet future PV power requirements it will be necessary to move toward innovative device design and ultimately new material systems. To this end, new approaches for solar energy conversion are being explored, including organic solar cells (OSCs) that offer the opportunity to diversify PV technologies. Organic and hybrid solar cells are poised to play a significant role in realizing long-term scenarios for sustainable and efficient sources of energy. Although the power conversion efficiency of OSCs is still considerably below that attainable by their inorganic semiconductor-based counterparts, other desirable characteristics, such as flexibility and low weight, make them ideal for specific niche applications, such as their integration into buildings (i.e. on roofs and semitransparent windows) and may ultimately allow the development of viable OPV sources for space applications.