The growing interest in organic photovoltaics and the potential for a future mass production urges to find alternatives to the presently employed materials that are well performing but not convenient from the point of view of large area fabrication. Electrodes based on non abundant elements, or that constitute an issue for devices (i) long term stability, (ii) mechanical robustness and (iii) continuous fabrication process, shall be possibly soon replaced by earth abundant, easy processable and sustainable materials. Many groups have recently started to devote their research work on materials not containing metals or metal oxides, and the time has come to summarise the progress that has been reached so far. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.