ABSTRACT
Silicon solar cells have captured a large portion of the total market of photovoltaic devices mostly due to their relatively high efficiency. However, Silicon exhibits limitations in ultraviolet absorption because high-energy photons are absorbed at the surface of the solar cell, in the heavily doped region, and the photo-generated electron-hole pairs need to diffuse into the junction region, resulting in significant carrier recombination. One of the alternatives to improve the absorption range involves the use of down-shifting nano-structures able to interact with the aforementioned high energy photons. Here, as a proof of concept, we use downshifting CdSe/CdS quantum dots to improve the performance of a silicon solar cell. The incorporation of these nanostructures triggered improvements in the short circuit current density (Jsc, from 32.5 to 37.0 mA/cm2). This improvement led to a â¼13% increase in the power conversion efficiency (PCE), from 12.0 to 13.5%. Our results demonstrate that the application of down-shifting materials is a viable strategy to improve the efficiency of Silicon solar cells with mass-compatible techniques that could serve to promote their widespread utilization.
ABSTRACT
Advantage has been taken of the measured pulse width of synchrotron radiation and its independence of wavelength to determine the delta-pulse response of a vacuum uv photomultiplier. This photomultiplier was then used to establish the true time profile of a nanosecond H(2) flashlamp. Two numerical techniques (the exponential series method and the fast Fourier transform method) were used to deconvolute the data arising from these experiments. The results indicate that the H(2) flashlamp probably has the same profile in the many-line region, lambda < 1800 A, and in the continuum region, lambda > 2100 A, and the delta-pulse response of the PMT appears consistent with known properties of the Cs-Te photocathode.
