Efficiently Harvesting Sun Light for Silicon Solar Cells through Advanced Optical Couplers and A Radial p-n Junction Structure

Energies

Hsin-Cheng Lee¹  Shich-Chuan Wu²  Tien-Chung Yang¹ 

[1] Department of Material Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchiu, Taiwan; E-Mails:;National Nano Device Laboratories, Science-Based Industrial Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan; E-Mail:

关键词: solar energy;    silicon solar cells;    thin-film solar cells;    photovoltaics;    photonic crystals;    surface plasmon;    particles plasmon;    plasmonic structure;    radial p-n junction;    silicon nanowires;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en3040784

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Silicon-based solar cells (SCs) promise to be an alternative energy source mainly due to: (1) a high efficiency-to-cost ratio, (2) the absence of environmental-degradation issues, and (3) great reliability. Transition from wafer-based to thin-film SC significantly reduces the cost of SCs, including the cost from the material itself and the fabrication process. However, as the thickness of the absorption (or the active) layer decreases, the energy-conversion efficiency drops dramatically. As a consequence, we discuss here three techniques to increase the efficiency of silicon-based SCs: (1) photonic crystal (PC) optical couplers and (2) plasmonic optical couplers to increase efficiency of light absorption in the SCs, and (3) a radial p-n junction structure, decomposing light absorption and diffusion path into two orthogonal directions. The detailed mechanisms and recent research progress regarding these techniques are discussed in this review article.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.