Improving solar cell efficiencies by down-conversion of high-energy photons

Trupke, Thorsten; Green, Martin A.; Würfel, P.

doi:10.1063/1.1492021

Cited by 925 publications

(565 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The one of the most straightforward methods of quantum dots application in photovoltaics is their utilization for light conversion in down-conversion (DC) process, which is also known as quantum-cutting [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The down-converter transforms one high energy photon into two or more photons of lower energy but simultaneously higher than the bandgap.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying of Perovskite Nanoparticles in PMMA Matrix Used As Light Converter for Silicon Solar Cell

Lipiński¹,

Socha²,

Kędra³

et al. 2017

Archives of Metallurgy and Materials

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The nanoparticles of CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 hybrid perovskites were synthesized. These perovskite nanoparticles we embedded in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) in order to obtain the composite, which we used as light converter for silicon solar cells. It was shown that the composite emit the light with the intensity maximum at about 527 nm when exited by a short wavelength (300÷450 nm) of light.The silicon solar cells were used to examine the effect of down-conversion (DC) process by perovskite nanoparticles embedded in PMMA. For experiments, two groups of monocrystalline silicon solar cells were used. The first one included the solar cells without surface texturization and antireflection coating. The second one included the commercial cells with surface texturization and antireflection coating. In every series of the cells one part of the cells were covered by composite (CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 in PMMA) layer and second part of cells by pure PMMA for comparison. It was shown that External Quantum Efficiency EQE of the photovoltaic cells covered by composite (CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 in PMMA) layer was improved in both group of the cells but unfortunately the Internal Quantum Efficiency was reduced. This reduction was caused by high absorption of the short wavelength light and reabsorption of the luminescence light. Therefore, the CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 perovskite nanoparticles embedded in PMMA matrix were unable to increase silicon solar cell efficiency in the tested systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying of Perovskite Nanoparticles in PMMA Matrix Used As Light Converter for Silicon Solar Cell

Lipiński¹,

Socha²,

Kędra³

et al. 2017

Archives of Metallurgy and Materials

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“…An alternative solution to beat the Shockley-Queisser limit is by optical conversion of the solar spectrum prior to entering the solar cell 2,[7][8][9][10][11] . A large number of downconversion materials able to convert high-energy photons into multiple lower-energy photons have recently been developed [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the downconverted photons are in the visible range, this concept is of interest for color conversion layers in conventional lighting applications 1,2,4-6 . New exciting possibilities of downconversion to infrared (IR) photons lie in next-generation photovoltaics, aiming at minimizing the spectral mismatch losses in solar cells [7][8][9][10][11] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Multi-photon quantum cutting in Gd2O2S:Tm3+ to enhance the photo-response of solar cells

Martín-Rodríguez

Zhang

et al. 2015

Light Sci Appl

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Conventional photoluminescence (PL) yields at most one emitted photon for each absorption event. Downconversion (or quantum cutting) materials can yield more than one photon by virtue of energy transfer processes between luminescent centers. In this work, we introduce Gd 2 O 2 S:Tm 31 as a multi-photon quantum cutter. It can convert near-infrared, visible, or ultraviolet photons into two, three, or four infrared photons of ,1800 nm, respectively. The cross-relaxation steps between Tm 31 ions that lead to quantum cutting are identified from (time-resolved) PL as a function of the Tm 31 concentration in the crystal. A model is presented that reproduces the way in which the Tm 31 concentration affects both the relative intensities of the various emission lines and the excited state dynamics and providing insight in the quantum cutting efficiency. Finally, we discuss the potential application of Gd 2 O 2 S:Tm 31 for spectral conversion to improve the efficiency of next-generation photovoltaics. Keywords: downconversion; infrared emission; quantum cutting; solar cells; spectral conversions INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, advanced luminescent materials exhibiting downconversion, also known as quantum cutting or quantum splitting, have been developed 1,2 . In this process, a high-energy photon is converted into two or more lower-energy photons, with a quantum efficiency of potentially well over 100% 3 . If the downconverted photons are in the visible range, this concept is of interest for color conversion layers in conventional lighting applications 1,2,4-6 . New exciting possibilities of downconversion to infrared (IR) photons lie in next-generation photovoltaics, aiming at minimizing the spectral mismatch losses in solar cells [7][8][9][10][11] .Spectral mismatch is the result of the broad width of the spectrum emitted by the sun. Semiconductor absorber materials absorb only photons with an energy hn higher than the band gap E g 7 . To absorb many photons and produce a large electrical current, absorber materials must therefore have a small bandgap. However, because excited charge carriers rapidly thermalize to the edges of a semiconductor's conduction and valence bands, a high voltage output requires an absorber with a large band gap. Hence, materials with low transmission losses (leading to a large current) have high thermalization losses (leading to a low voltage) and vice versa 12,13 . These spectral mismatch losses constitute the major factor defining the relatively low ShockleyQueisser limit 14 , the maximum light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 33% in a single-junction solar cell, obtained for a band gap of approximately 1.1 eV (1100 nm) 13 .Efficiencies higher than 33% can be reached with multi-junction solar cells, where a stack of multiple absorber materials are each optimized to efficiently convert different parts of the solar spectrum to

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“…The emission of the phosphor is unidirectional and the emitted light can be emitted in all direction. Subsequently, when the DC material is placed on top of silicon solar cell, it is only expected that half of the luminescence emitted by down converter contributes to photocurrent emitted into the direction of the solar cell [4]. However, the pyramidally textured surface can reduce this loss and thus more exploited photons can contribute in generation of charge carries and consequently increasing the conversion efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic cells energy performance enhancement with down-converting photoluminescence phosphors

Tahhan

Dehouche

Fern

et al. 2015

Int. J. Energy Res.

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SUMMARYPhosphors, synthesized by the urea homo-precipitation method, were examined as UV-spectral down conversion materials for improving the light absorption and electrical characteristics of commercial single-junction silicon solar cells. The PV cells were coated with Erbium and Terbium doped Gadolinium Oxysulfide phosphors encapsulated in EVA binder using blade screen printing technique, and the optimum concentration of phosphor in the composite resulted in the largest light conversion, and superior electrical output and energy transfer efficiency. Moreover, the results demonstrated that the composition of dispersed phosphors has a strong influence on the amount of UV-light converted and electron transition capacity of PV cells. The experimental results showed in an optimized PV cell, an enhancement of 0.54% (from 12.11% to 12.65%) in the energy conversion of a Si-based PV cell was achieved.

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Improving solar cell efficiencies by down-conversion of high-energy photons

Cited by 925 publications

References 8 publications

Studying of Perovskite Nanoparticles in PMMA Matrix Used As Light Converter for Silicon Solar Cell

Studying of Perovskite Nanoparticles in PMMA Matrix Used As Light Converter for Silicon Solar Cell

Multi-photon quantum cutting in Gd2O2S:Tm3+ to enhance the photo-response of solar cells

Photovoltaic cells energy performance enhancement with down-converting photoluminescence phosphors

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