A polymerizable fullerene derivative was designed and applied as the electron acceptor material in organic bulk heterojunction solar cells in combination with P3HT. This material was easily processed using environmentally friendly solvents such as toluene and xylene instead of conventional chlorobenzene. Moreover, toluene-processed solar cells yielded better performances than devices produced using chlorobenzene as a solvent. Solar cells based on the designed polymerizable fullerene derivative demonstrated highly stable operation even at elevated temperatures. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.