A donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) molecule has been designed and synthesized for use as the electron donating material in solution-processed small-molecule organic solar cells (OSCs). The D-A-D molecule comprises a central electron-accepting (2Z,2'Z)-2,2'-(2,5-bis(octyloxy)-1,4-phenylene)bis(3-(thiophen-2-yl)acrylonitrile) (ZOPTAN) core, which is chemically connected to two peripheral and electron-donating triphenylamine (TPA) units. The ZOPTAN-TPA molecule features a low HOMO level of -5.2 eV and an optical energy gap of 2.1 eV. Champion OSCs based on a solution-processed and non-annealed active material blend of [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and ZOPTAN-TPA in a mass ratio of 2:1 exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 1.9% and a high open-circuit voltage of 1.0 V. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.