We propose a charge pump which converts solar energy into DC electricity. It is based on cyclic changes in the spontaneous electric polarization of a photoferroelectric material, which allows a transfer of charge from a low to a high voltage. To estimate the power efficiency we use a photoferroelectric liquid crystal as the working substance. For a specific choice of material, an efficiency of 2% is obtained.
@article{arxiv.1301.7111,
title = {Photoferroelectric solar to electrical conversion},
author = {Milos Knezevic and Mark Warner},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.7111},
year = {2013}
}