Related papers: Solar Thermoradiative-Photovoltaic Energy Conversi…
An indium arsenide photovoltaic cell with gold front contacts is designed for use in a near-field thermophotovoltaic (NF-TPV) device consisting of millimeter-size surfaces separated by a nanosize vacuum gap. The device operates with a doped…
Nanowire arrays exhibit efficient light coupling and strong light trapping, making them well suited to solar cell applications. The processes that contribute to their absorption are interrelated and highly dispersive, so the only current…
Solar photons possessing energy less than the band-gap of a single-junction solar cell can be utilized via the up-conversion (UC) of two or more photons, resulting in the emission of a single above-bandgap photon. Due to the non-linear…
We propose an efficient plasmonic structure consisting of metal strips and thin-film silicon for solar energy absorption. We numerically demonstrate the absorption enhancement in symmetrical structure based on the mode coupling between the…
Recombination losses contribute to reduce $J_{SC}$, $V_{OC}$ and the fill factor of organic solar cells. Recent advances in non-fullerene organic photovoltaics have shown, nonetheless, that efficient charge generation can occur under small…
A theoretical and experimental analysis is carried out of radiative heat transfer in the coaxial geometry of evacuated tube solar collectors. The gray body approximation implicit in the use of an effective emissivity does not strictly apply…
We describe surface patterning strategies that permit high photon-collection efficiency together with high carrier-collection efficiency in an ultra-thin planar heterojunction organic photovoltaic cell. Optimized designs reach up to 50%…
Significant progress has been made in the field of thermophotovoltaics, with efficiency recently rising to over 40% due to improvements in cell design and material quality, higher emitter temperatures, and better spectral management.…
In the present work we propose "nanofluid filled enclosures" as potential photo-thermal energy conversion and sensible heat storage devices. Herein, the optical charging of the nanofluid has been modeled as "solar radiant energy -…
The integration of renewable resources has increased in power generation as a means to reduce the fossil fuel usage and mitigate its adverse effects on the environment. However, renewables like solar energy are stochastic in nature due to…
For window applications in hot climates, it is desirable to have windows with high visible transparency, while maintaining strong reflectance in both the ultraviolet and near infrared, to minimize unwanted heat gain. Given that more than…
Solar-thermal evaporation, a traditional steam generation method for solar desalination, has received numerous attentions in recent years due to the significant increase in efficiency by adopting interfacial evaporation. While most of the…
Near-field thermal radiation transfer overcoming the far-field blackbody limit has attracted significant attention in recent years owing to its potential for drastically increasing the output power and conversion efficiency of…
One of the main approaches to inhibit carrier cooling in semiconductor systems enabling the study of hot carrier solar cell protocols is the use of concentrated illumination to obtain high power densities and create a phonon bottleneck.…
To accurately calculate efficiencies $\eta$ of experimentally produced multijunction solar cells (MJSCs) and optimize their parameters, we offer semi-analytical photoconversion formalism that incorporates radiative recombination,…
Light trapping for solar cells can reduce production cost and improve energy conversion efficiency. Understanding some of the basic theoretical constraints on light trapping is therefore of fundamental importance. Here, we develop a general…
We propose a nanoscale heat engine that utilizes the physics of resonant tunneling in quantum dots in order to transfer electrons only at specific energies. The nanoengine converts heat into electrical current in a multiterminal geometry…
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converters are capable of generating electrical energy from infrared radiation emitted by an emitter powered by waste heat or solar energy. Key performance metrics for TPV converters are power output density (POD),…
In this review, we present and discussed the main trends in photovoltaics with emphasize on the conversion efficiency limits. The theoretical limits of various photovoltaics device concepts are presented and analyzed using a flexible…
We propose a novel design for a lightweight, high-performance space-based solar power array combined with power beaming capability for operation in geosynchronous orbit and transmission of power to Earth. We use a modular configuration of…