At this symposium on June 17 we discuss the latest developments in light management for solar cells and related topics. The program consists of four talks by international keynote speakers, and covers investigations of methods and materials to ultimately go beyond the efficiency of conventional solar cells. This symposium is intended for everyone in solar cell research and provides a broad overview of the most exciting directions in photovoltaic light management.
This years’ LMPV symposium meeting is a live conference only; there will be no parallel online presentations. We will make the talks available online after the workshop.
Registration for the workshop is free of charge. We look forward to welcoming you on June 17.
Click here for more info on our LMPV research.
Zinc phosphide as an earth abundant absorber for solar cells
Large-scale deployment of solar cells can only be achieved by using materials made of earth-abundant elements. Among the direct-bandgap earth abundant absorbers, zinc phosphide exhibits the highest potential. In this talk we will explain three different paths to achieving high quality zinc phosphide, circumventing all challenges due to the mismatch of its structure and coefficient of thermal expansion to any available commercial substrate. The solutions proposed are translatable to other systems and thus applicable to ‘materials discovery’ approaches.
Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials, EPFL, Lausanne
Solar energy from an energy and climate scenario perspective
In this lecture the role of solar energy in global climate change mitigation is presented from both a technology assessment and integrated energy system modeling perspective. Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) constitute an important tool in the work by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Most IPCC scenarios report a massive expansion of photovoltaics as one of the leading options to implement deep reductions in CO2 emissions before 2050. Current multi-disciplinary and techno-economic research focuses on whether solar energy can play an even larger role by extending its application beyond that in the generation and direct use of electricity.
1 TNO, Energy Transition department (ETS), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Science (HIMS and IAS), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3 Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Bologna, Italy
Directing the flow of energy and electrons in halide perovskite-molecular hybrids: energy versus electron transfer
Radiation Laboratory, Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
Monolithic 2-terminal perovskite silicon tandem solar cells
Starting from a p-i-n perovskite top solar cell with a 1.68 eV absorber on p-type heterojunction silicon bottom solar cells with a pyramidal rear side texture and a planar front, we elaborate optimization steps to maximize the photocurrents in the sub-cells and achieve current matching. Supported by optical simulation using transfer matrix formalism, main process adaptions are addressed, e.g. development of a more transparent front contact layer and fine-tuning the perovskite band gap. Spectral metric analysis – comprising a systematic variation of the illumination spectrum, while keeping the overall irradiance constant – is applied to access the individual sub-cell´s current generation and confirm current matching. A certified current density of 19.6 mA/cm2 is achieved for optimized tandem devices with planar front. For further current increase and higher energy yield, fully textured tandem devices are needed. For this purpose, we investigate the dry/wet hybrid (evaporation and wet processing) route to allow perovskite deposition with tuneable band gap on µm-sized silicon texture.
Read more: full abstract (pdf)
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany