With looming energy crisis across the globe, achieving high efficiency and low cost solar cells have long been the key objective for photovoltaic researchers. III-V compound semiconductor based multijunction solar cells have been the dominant choice for space power due to their superior performance compared to any other existing solar cell technologies. In spite of unmatched performance of III-...

In this paper, we will present a Pc1D numerical simulation for heterojunction (HJ) silicon solar cells, and discuss their possibilities and limitations. By means of modeling and numerical computer simulation, the influence of emitter-layer/intrinsic-layer/crystalline-Si heterostructures with different thickness and crystallinity on the solar cell performance is investigated and compared with ho...

dye-sensitized solar cells present promising low-cost alternatives to the conventional silicon (si)-based solar cells. the counter electrode  generally consists of pt deposited onto fto plate. since pt is rare and expensive metal, nanostructured carbonaceous materials have been widely investigated as a promising alternative to replace it. carbon nanotubes  have shown significant properties such...

With an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)/crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction structure, the heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) solar cell has become one of the most promising technologies for c-Si based solar cells. By replacing a-Si:H thin films with appropriate compound semiconductors, we propose novel heterojunction structures which allow c-Si heterojunction solar cells to posses...

We report solar cells with both black Si antireflection and SiO2 surface passivation provided by inexpensive liquid-phase chemistry, rather than by conventional vacuum-based techniques. Preliminary cell efficiency has reached 16.4%. Nanoporous black Si antireflection on crystalline Si by aqueous etching promises low surface reflection for high photon utilization, together with lower manufacturi...

As an important step towards the realisation of silicon-based tandem solar cells using silicon quantum dots embedded in a silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) matrix, single-junction silicon quantum dot (Si QD) solar cells on quartz substrates have been fabricated. The total thickness of the solar cell material is 420 nm. The cells contain 4 nm diameter Si quantum dots. The impacts of post-metallisation tr...

We demonstrate energy-conversion-efficiency (η) enhancement of silicon (Si) solar cells by the heterogeneous integration of an In(x)Ga(1-x)As nanowire (NW) array on the rear surface. The NWs are grown via a catalyst-free, self-assembled method on Si(111) substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Heavily p-doped In(x)Ga(1-x)As (x ≈ 0.7) NW arrays are utilized as not only b...

Flexible heterojunction solar cells were fabricated from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and mono-crystalline Si thin films at room temperature. The Si thin films with thickness less than 50 μm are prepared by chemically etching Si wafer in a KOH solution. The initial efficiency of the thin-film solar cell varies from approximately 3% to 5%. After doping with a few drops of 1 M HNO3, the efficiency inc...

Multijunction solar cells provide us a viable approach to achieve efficiencies higher than the Shockley-Queisser limit. Due to their unique optical, electrical, and crystallographic features, semiconductor nanowires are good candidates to achieve monolithic integration of solar cell materials that are not lattice-matched. Here, we report the first realization of nanowire-on-Si tandem cells with...

Hybrid silicon/polymer solar cells promise to be an economically feasible alternative energy solution for various applications if ultrathin flexible crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates are used. However, utilization of ultrathin c-Si encounters problems in light harvesting and electronic losses at surfaces, which severely degrade the performance of solar cells. Here, we developed a metal-assi...