IMPROVEMENT OF SPECTRAL RESPONSE OF SOLAR CELLS BY DEPLOYMENT OF SPECTRAL CONVERTERS CONTAINING SEMICONDUCTOR NANOCRYSTALS

ABSTRACT: Planar converters containing quantum dots as wavelength-shifting moieties on top of multi-crystalline and amorphous silicon solar cells were studied. The highly efficient quantum dots shift by means of absorption and re-emission, the wavelengths where the spectral response of the solar cell is low to wavelengths where the spectral response is high, in order to improve the conversion efficiency of the solar cell. It was calculated that quantum dots with an emission at 603 nm increase the multi-crystalline solar cell short-circuit current by nearly 10%. Simulation results for planar converters on hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells show no beneficial effects, due to the high spectral response at low wavelength. Experimental results on multi-crystalline silicon solar cell however do not confirm these findings