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A two-dimensional model was developed to simulate the optoelectronic characteristics of indium-gallium-nitride (InGaN), thin-film, Schottky-barrier solar cells. The solar cells comprise a window, designed to reduce the reflection of…
Recombination through quantum dots (QDs) is a major factor that limits efficiency of QD intermediate-band (IB) solar cells. Our proposal for a new IB solar cell based on type-II GaSb QDs located outside the depletion region of a GaAs…
The orthorhombic crystal structure of the MgSnN$_2$ compound with Pna2$_1$ symmetry has been investigated as a low-cost, non-toxic material for photovoltaic (PV) applications using density functional theory (DFT) and spectroscopic limited…
Practical device architectures are proposed here for the implementation of three-terminal heterojunction bipolar transistor solar cells (3T-HBTSCs). These photovoltaic devices, which have a potential efficiency similar to that of…
The theoretical maximum efficiency of a solar cell is typically characterized by a detailed balance of optical absorption and emission for a semiconductor in the limit of unity radiative efficiency and an ideal step-function response for…
Traditional concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems utilize multijunction cells to minimize thermalization losses, but cannot efficiently capture diffuse sunlight, which contributes to a high levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and limits…
We evaluate the limiting efficiency of full and partial solar spectrum harvesting via the process of internal photoemission in Au-semiconductor Schottky junctions. Our results based on the ab initio calculations of the electron density of…
A 2-D photonic crystal was integrated experimentally into a thin-film crystalline-silicon solar cell of 1-{\mu}m thickness, after numerical optimization maximizing light absorption in the active material. The photonic crystal boosted the…
Cu2ZnSnS(e)4 (CZTS(e)) solar cells have attracted much attention due to the elemental abundance and the non-toxicity. However, the record efficiency of 12.6% for Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells is much lower than that of Cu(In,Ga)Se2…
This paper reports on the investigation of the electronic properties of a thin film CdS/CdTe solar cell with the Ion Beam Induced Charge (IBIC) technique. The device under test is a thin film (total thickness around 10 um) multilayer…
Organic solar cells have the potential to be low-cost and efficient solar energy converters, with a promising energy balance. They are made from carbon-based semiconductors, which exhibit favourable light absorption and charge generation…
Here we present the experimental results of an inverted three-terminal heterojunction bipolar transistor solar cell (HBTSC) made of GaInP/GaAs. The inverted growth and processing enable contacting the intermediate layer (base) from the…
Heterostructures based on atomically thin semiconductors are considered a promising emerging technology for the realization of ultrathin and ultralight photovoltaic solar cells on flexible substrates. Much progress has been made in recent…
The improvement of light absorption in Si/BeSe$_{0.41}$Te$_{0.59}$ heterostructures for solar cell applications is studied theoretically. First, using simple approaches we found that light absorption could be improved in a single…
A modified detailed balance model is built to understand and quantify efficiency loss of perovskite solar cells. The modified model captures the light-absorption dependent short-circuit current, contact and transport-layer modified carrier…
To absorb the photons below the band-gap energy effectively, we proposed a quantum dot (QD) photocell modeled by multi-level system for the quantum yields and photo-to-charge efficiency limits. The theoretical results show the quantum…
III-V materials show a wide range of gaps making them ideal for the design of high efficiency solar cells. This chapter reviews relevant growth methods and material properties of these materials and discusses methods of combining…
A semiconductor structure consisting of two coupled quantum wells embedded into the intrinsic region of a {\it p-i-n} junction is proposed to be implemented as an intermediate band solar cell with ratchet state. The localized conduction…
Understanding the maximal enhancement of solar absorption in semiconductor materials by light trapping promises the development of affordable solar cells. However, the conventional Lambertian limit is only valid for idealized material…
Photovoltaic (PV) cells have become one of the most promising renewable energy technologies. To make PV more competitive with incumbent technologies, higher power output densities are needed. One promising approach is to add bifaciality to…