Related papers: Spectrally Selective Solar Absorbers with High-tem…
Elemental selenium is a promising wide-bandgap ($E_\mathrm{G}\approx$ 1.95 eV) photovoltaic material for the next generation of thin-film solar cells. To realize high-efficiency selenium solar cells, it is crucial to optimize the…
Ultrathin planar absorbing layers, including semiconductor and metal films, and 2D materials, are promising building blocks for solar energy harvesting devices but poor light absorption has been a critical issue. Although interference in…
Spectrally selective absorbers that maximize solar absorption and minimize thermal radiation loss are crucial for efficient solar thermal energy harvesting. However, limitations imposed by the intrinsic properties of conventional materials…
Hot carrier solar cells allow potential efficiency close to the thermodynamical limit in ideal conditions. However, the feasability of such devices has not been clearly stated so far and only ideal cells were considered in previous studies.…
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…
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…
We demonstrate a broadband, polarization independent, omnidirectional absorber based on a metallic metasurface architecture, which accomplishes greater than 90% absorptance in the visible and near-infrared range of the solar spectrum, and…
Utilizing solar energy requires perfect absorption by photovoltaic cells for efficient conversion of solar energy into useful electrical energy. Metasurfaces can, not only be used to absorb solar energy efficiently but, they do so with…
We report on very high enhancement of thin layer's absorption through band-engineering of a photonic crystal structure. We realized amorphous silicon (aSi) photonic crystals, where slow light modes improve absorption efficiency. We show…
We demonstrate thin-film metamaterials with resonances in the mid-infrared wavelength range. Our structures are numerically modeled and experimentally characterized by reflection and angularly-resolved thermal emission spectroscopy. We…
We report the first spectral reflectance of tungsten carbide (WC) as potential solar selective absorber. We developed an optical measurement system for visible to mid-infrared spectroscopy, covering the range of 0.1 to 2.5 eV, to evaluate…
Visibly transparent luminescent solar concentrators (TLSCs) can optimize both power production and visible transparency by selectively harvesting the invisible portion of the solar spectrum. Since the primary applications of TLSCs include…
Recent success in synthesizing thermally stable nanofluids at low costs is a significant breakthrough in the evolution of volumetric absorption based solar thermal systems. However, we have yet not been able to clearly identify the range of…
Passive solar desalination is an emerging low-cost technology for fresh water production. State of the art desalinators typically evaporate water using wicking structures to achieve high solar-to-vapor efficiency by minimizing heat loss.…
Low cost, highly efficient, and stable solar cells demand low temperature processing, less stringent criteria on materials, and possibility of dynamic recovery from long term degradation: a combination of features unachievable from the…
This paper presents modelled results for optical absorption in ultra-thin films of nickel, gold and silver across the solar spectrum. It is found in the case of nickel there is an optimum thickness for maximum solar absorption around…
The perfect absorption of light in subwavelength thickness layers generally relies on exotic materials, metamaterials or thick metallic gratings. Here we demonstrate that total light absorption can be achieved in ultra-thin gratings…
Solar arrays are the primary energy source of the satellite. In this paper, a metamaterial absorber for solar arrays with simultaneous high optical transparency and broadband microwave absorption is presented. By tailoring the reflection…
In this paper, we study the solar selective absorbing properties of metal nanowire array (NWA) / anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) composites at 1000 K via numerical simulation. The materials and structural parameters which influence the…
Organic solar cells (OSCs) are uniquely suited for semitransparent applications due to their adjustable absorption spectrum. However, most high-performance semitransparent cells reported to date are based on materials that have shown high…