Solar ‘Sandwich’ can improve Solar Efficiency
Increasing the efficiencies of solar cells is a powerful lever for cost reduction of photovoltaic (PV) systems. However, the efficiencies of single-junction PV technologies have nearly reached their practical limits.
Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark have worked on a possible solution.
Tandem solar cells, which integrate two absorbers with different bandgaps into a single device, hold promise for achieving significantly higher device efficiencies; nevertheless, only a few such devices have reached commercialization. The main challenge for realizing the next-generation, low-cost tandem solar cell is the identification of a wide-bandgap top cell that is process compatible with a low-bandgap bottom cell while maintaining high performance, low cost and long-term stability. In this work, the authors present a monolithically integrated selenium/silicon tandem solar cell. Combining experiment and device simulation, the device architecture and heterostructure interfaces are investigated, providing valuable insight into the key challenges that must be addressed to realize higher efficiencies.
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