Solar energy enhancement using down-converting particles: A rigorous approach

Abrams, Ze’ev R.; Niv, Avi; Zhang, Xiang

doi:10.1063/1.3592297

Cited by 78 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…The downconversion process occurs by energy transfer between luminescent centers, either lanthanide ions with a wide range of energy levels or organic molecules with low-energy triplet states 31,32 . If the IR photons generated are all absorbed by the solar cell material, the result can be a huge increase in the current output [10][11][12][13]33 . This concept does not impose requirements on the contact surface between the conversion layer and the solar cell, so it can relatively easily be integrated into existing solar cell technologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An alternative solution to beat the Shockley-Queisser limit is by optical conversion of the solar spectrum prior to entering the solar cell 2,[7][8][9][10][11] . A large number of downconversion materials able to convert high-energy photons into multiple lower-energy photons have recently been developed [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the downconverted photons are in the visible range, this concept is of interest for color conversion layers in conventional lighting applications 1,2,4-6 . New exciting possibilities of downconversion to infrared (IR) photons lie in next-generation photovoltaics, aiming at minimizing the spectral mismatch losses in solar cells [7][8][9][10][11] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-photon quantum cutting in Gd2O2S:Tm3+ to enhance the photo-response of solar cells

Martín-Rodríguez

Zhang

et al. 2015

Light Sci Appl

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Conventional photoluminescence (PL) yields at most one emitted photon for each absorption event. Downconversion (or quantum cutting) materials can yield more than one photon by virtue of energy transfer processes between luminescent centers. In this work, we introduce Gd 2 O 2 S:Tm 31 as a multi-photon quantum cutter. It can convert near-infrared, visible, or ultraviolet photons into two, three, or four infrared photons of ,1800 nm, respectively. The cross-relaxation steps between Tm 31 ions that lead to quantum cutting are identified from (time-resolved) PL as a function of the Tm 31 concentration in the crystal. A model is presented that reproduces the way in which the Tm 31 concentration affects both the relative intensities of the various emission lines and the excited state dynamics and providing insight in the quantum cutting efficiency. Finally, we discuss the potential application of Gd 2 O 2 S:Tm 31 for spectral conversion to improve the efficiency of next-generation photovoltaics. Keywords: downconversion; infrared emission; quantum cutting; solar cells; spectral conversions INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, advanced luminescent materials exhibiting downconversion, also known as quantum cutting or quantum splitting, have been developed 1,2 . In this process, a high-energy photon is converted into two or more lower-energy photons, with a quantum efficiency of potentially well over 100% 3 . If the downconverted photons are in the visible range, this concept is of interest for color conversion layers in conventional lighting applications 1,2,4-6 . New exciting possibilities of downconversion to infrared (IR) photons lie in next-generation photovoltaics, aiming at minimizing the spectral mismatch losses in solar cells [7][8][9][10][11] .Spectral mismatch is the result of the broad width of the spectrum emitted by the sun. Semiconductor absorber materials absorb only photons with an energy hn higher than the band gap E g 7 . To absorb many photons and produce a large electrical current, absorber materials must therefore have a small bandgap. However, because excited charge carriers rapidly thermalize to the edges of a semiconductor's conduction and valence bands, a high voltage output requires an absorber with a large band gap. Hence, materials with low transmission losses (leading to a large current) have high thermalization losses (leading to a low voltage) and vice versa 12,13 . These spectral mismatch losses constitute the major factor defining the relatively low ShockleyQueisser limit 14 , the maximum light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 33% in a single-junction solar cell, obtained for a band gap of approximately 1.1 eV (1100 nm) 13 .Efficiencies higher than 33% can be reached with multi-junction solar cells, where a stack of multiple absorber materials are each optimized to efficiently convert different parts of the solar spectrum to

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-photon quantum cutting in Gd2O2S:Tm3+ to enhance the photo-response of solar cells

Martín-Rodríguez

Zhang

et al. 2015

Light Sci Appl

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“…The potential of using an ideal DC material to improve the efficiency of a silicon solar cell under un-concentrated sunlight has been demonstrated theoretically and reaches an efficiency of 38.6% [4]. The thermodynamic evaluation of the DC materials shows a 7% possible enhancement in the efficiency of single junction solar cell without the presence of light concentration [5]. The DC mechanism works by elevating the current of the solar cell by increasing the number of photons absorbed while maintaining the voltage, since the DC modify only the solar spectrum to better match the solar cell light-absorption properties and not the solar cell intrinsic structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic cells energy performance enhancement with down-converting photoluminescence phosphors

Tahhan

Dehouche

Fern

et al. 2015

Int. J. Energy Res.

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SUMMARYPhosphors, synthesized by the urea homo-precipitation method, were examined as UV-spectral down conversion materials for improving the light absorption and electrical characteristics of commercial single-junction silicon solar cells. The PV cells were coated with Erbium and Terbium doped Gadolinium Oxysulfide phosphors encapsulated in EVA binder using blade screen printing technique, and the optimum concentration of phosphor in the composite resulted in the largest light conversion, and superior electrical output and energy transfer efficiency. Moreover, the results demonstrated that the composition of dispersed phosphors has a strong influence on the amount of UV-light converted and electron transition capacity of PV cells. The experimental results showed in an optimized PV cell, an enhancement of 0.54% (from 12.11% to 12.65%) in the energy conversion of a Si-based PV cell was achieved.

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“…The improvement of the absorption can be achieved by different methods, such as tandem structures [14,[122][123][124], downconversion [125][126][127][128][129][130][131], upconversion [132][133][134][135][136][137][138], synthesis of broad band absorption polymers [31,32,[139][140][141][142], scattering, employing plasmonic effects [143][144][145][146][147][148], and using fluorescence concentrators [149][150][151][152][153][154]. Considering our lab's capability, the fluorescence converter appears to be a viable approach.…”

Section: Enhancement Of Absorption By Fluorescence Structure Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photocurrent Limiting Mechanisms in Organic Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

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As we use more energy as a society, there is a greater need to become less reliant on non-renewable energy sources. Photovoltaics (PV), as a method of harvesting sunlight and converting it into electricity, provide a potential way of producing clean renewable energy.Organic bulk heteojunction (BHJ) solar cells featured with low-cost, large-area and thin-film manufacture, have become more viable with the recent demonstration with power conversion efficiencies (PCE) as high as10.7%. However, there is still a room for further improvement to reach the thermodynamic PCE limit of ~22%. For organic BHJ solar cells, the efficiency is essentially limited by the low short-circuit current density, which is determined by four sequential steps that are necessary to transform incident photons to free charge carriers. These steps are photo absorption and exciton formation, exciton diffusion, polaron pair dissociation and free polaron collection. In order to know the extent to which each of these steps limits the efficiency, a systematic study to analyze the limiting mechanisms is beneficial.In this work, we report approaches that are capable of providing insight into these processes by applying several complementary experimental techniques and theoretical calculations. The material system that are studied are poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): Therefore, it is quite intrigue to explore the reasons behind that.For absorption, the optical transfer-matrix theory is applied on the multi-thinlayer structure of organic BHJ solar cells. The complex refractive index is extracted.Meanwhile, the optical electric field and the absorption efficiency are calculated and iii AcknowledgementThe Ph.D study is a strict but a joyful scientific training. To make through it, I'd like to thank to the people who gave me tremendous support in these years.First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Joe C. Campbell, for his patient guidance, continual support and encouragement during my Ph.D study. I learned a lot from him, not only about how to tackle the experimental/theoretical problems, but also about the vision, the presentation skills, and the way to keep a good relationship with your collaborators. I also appreciate the research freedom that Dr. Joe C. Campbell gave to me, which allows me to deliberate, to try and to pursuit without worrying.

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Solar energy enhancement using down-converting particles: A rigorous approach

Cited by 78 publications

References 28 publications

Multi-photon quantum cutting in Gd2O2S:Tm3+ to enhance the photo-response of solar cells

Multi-photon quantum cutting in Gd2O2S:Tm3+ to enhance the photo-response of solar cells

Photovoltaic cells energy performance enhancement with down-converting photoluminescence phosphors

Photocurrent Limiting Mechanisms in Organic Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

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