Related papers: Exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit within the d…
It is currently possible to fabricate crystalline silicon solar cells with the absorber thickness ranging from a few hundreds of micrometers (conventional wafer-based cells) to devices as thin as $1\,\mu\mathrm{m}$. In this work, we use a…
We derive the photovoltaic conversion efficiency limit for two-terminal tandem solar cells with a perovskite top cell and silicon bottom cell with an embedded spectrum splitter. For large-bandgap top-cells a spectrum splitter strongly…
There remains wide interest in solar cells being made using inexpensive materials and simple device manufacturing techniques to harvest ever-increasing amounts of energy. New semiconductor materials and new quantum nanostructures are…
Understanding the thermodynamics of radiation and the quantum-mechanical interactions between light and matter is important both for theoretical purposes and for technological advances, such as determining the limits of key processes like…
We address the question of the optimal broadband absorption of waves in an open, dissipative system. We develop a general framework for absorption induced by multiple overlapping resonances, based on quasi-normal modes and radiative and…
Enhancing the absorption and emission of electromagnetic waves over a broad range of wavelengths is a topic of fundamental and applied interest in photonics and energy research. In the context of light trapping in solar cells, for example,…
We theoretically demonstrate the fundamental limit in volume for given materials (e.g. Si, a-Si, CdTe) to fully absorb the solar radiation above bandgap, which we refer as solar superabsorption limit. We also point out the general…
Using the Spectroscopic Limited Maximum Efficiency, and Shockley and Queisser predictor models, we compute the solar efficiency of the chalcopyrites AgMX2(M=In,Al;X=S,Se,Te). The results presented are based on the estimation of the…
Due to recent advances, silicon solar cells are rapidly approaching the Shockley-Queisser limit of 33% efficiency. Quantum Dot (QD) solar cells have the potential to surpass this limit and enable a new generation of photovoltaic…
Photonic innovation is becoming ever more important in the modern world. Optical systems are dominating shorter and shorter communications distances, LED's are rapidly emerging for a variety of applications, and solar cells show potential…
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) show great promise as absorber materials in high-specific-power (i.e. high-power-per-weight) solar cells, due to their high optical absorption, desirable band gaps, and self-passivated surfaces.…
It has gradually been recognized that incoming sunlight can be trapped within a high refractive index semiconductor, n~3.5, owing to the narrow 16degree escape cone. The solar light inside a semiconductor is 4n^2 times brighter than…
We develop a new approach to calculate the obtainable limit of photoconversion efficiency of tandem solar cells (SCs) and applied it to SCs with both vertical and lateral designs at AM0 and AM1.5 conditions. To get the maximum efficiency,…
Conventional photocells suffer a fundamental efficiency threshold imposed by the principle of detailed balance, reflecting the fact that good absorbers must necessarily also be fast emitters. This limitation can be overcome by `parking' the…
The analytical modelling of bulk and quantum well solar cells is reviewed. The analytical approach allows explicit estimates of dominant generation and recombination mechanisms at work in charge neutral and space charge layers of the cells.…
Epitaxially-grown quantum well and quantum dot solar cells suffer from weak light absorption, strongly limiting their performance. Light trapping based on optical resonances is particularly relevant for such devices to increase light…
In conventional solar cell semiconductor materials (predominantly Si) photons with energy higher than the band gap initially generate hot electrons and holes, which subsequently cool down to the band edge by phonon emission. Due to the…
Single junction Si solar cells dominate photovoltaics but are close to their efficiency limits. This paper presents ideal limiting efficiencies for tandem and triple junction multijunction solar cells subject only to the constraint of the…
Since thin-film silicon solar cells have limited optical absorption, we explore the effect of a nanostructured back reflector to recycle the unabsorbed light. As a back reflector we investigate a 3D photonic band gap crystal made from…
In this study, effects of the shell material and confinement type on the conversion efficiency of the core/shell quantum dot nanocrystal (QDNC) solar cells have been investigated in a detail manner. For this purpose, the conventional, i.e…