Directionally solidified multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si)-based solar cells have dominated the global photovoltaic market in recent years. The photovoltaic performance of mc-Si solar cells is strongly influenced by their crystalline defects. The occurrence of minicrystallization results in much smaller grain size and, therefore, a larger number of grain boundaries in mc-Si ingots. Dislocations ...

To optimize the performance of polymer solar cells, various techniques have been developed and reported from various research fields. The introduction of processing additives in the polymer : PCBM bulkheterojunction solution is one of the efficient strategies used to improve the cell performance. Although numerous solvents have been presented as processing additives, an appropriate processing a...

A solar cell is an electronic device which not only harvests photovoltaic effect but also transforms light energy into electricity. In photovoltaic phenomenon, a P-N junction is created to form an empty region.  The presented paper aims at proposing a new highly efficient InGaN/Si double-junction solar cell structure. This cell is designed to be used in a real environmental situation, so only s...

The mechanism of charge separation in polymeric bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells is usually described as electron transfer from the absorbing polymer to an electron acceptor material such as 6,6 -phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester PCBM . We consider the possibility of energy transfer to PCBM as another potential mechanism for charge separation. We demonstrate resonance energy transfer f...

The role of bathocuproine BCP buffer layer inserted between active layer and Al contact in photovoltaic cells based on phthalocyanine Pc and C60 was investigated. Photoluminescence PL experiments show exciton quenching at the C60–Al interface to be strongly reduced by inserting BCP. Current-voltage characteristics of photovoltaic cells with planar geometry front electrode/ Pc/C60/BCP/Al show th...

Photovoltaic conversion requires two successive steps: accumulation of a photogenerated charge and charge separation. Determination of how and where charge accumulation is attained and how this accumulation can be identified is mandatory for understanding the performance of a photovoltaic device and for its further optimization. Here we analyse the mechanism of carrier accumulation in lead hali...

Visibly transparent photovoltaic devices can open photovoltaic applications in many areas, such as building-integrated photovoltaics or integrated photovoltaic chargers for portable electronics. We demonstrate high-performance, visibly transparent polymer solar cells fabricated via solution processing. The photoactive layer of these visibly transparent polymer solar cells harvests solar energy ...

Atomically thin 2D layered semiconductor materials such as Transition Metal Di-Chalcogenides (TMDCs) have great potential for use as flexible, ultra-thin photovoltaic materials in solar cells due to their favorable photon absorption and electronic transport properties. The electronic properties, such as band structure and bandgap, and optical absorption properties of Tungsten Disulfide (WS2) we...

A fullerene attached all-semiconducting polymer was synthesized and applied to single component polymer photovoltaic cells. The current approach gives a method of obtaining a reliable donor acceptor mixing morphology by molecular design and achieving efficient photovoltaic devices with long thermal stability.