Article abstract
Nature Materials 7, 907 - 915 (2008)
Published online: 5 October 2008 | doi:10.1038/nmat2287
Subject Categories: Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials | Materials for energy
Ultrathin silicon solar microcells for semitransparent, mechanically flexible and microconcentrator module designs
Jongseung Yoon1,2,3,8, Alfred J. Baca3,4,8, Sang-Il Park1,2,3, Paulius Elvikis5, Joseph B. Geddes, III2, Lanfang Li1,4, Rak Hwan Kim1,2,3, Jianliang Xiao6, Shuodao Wang6, Tae-Ho Kim1,2,3, Michael J. Motala3,4, Bok Yeop Ahn1,3, Eric B. Duoss1,3, Jennifer A. Lewis1,3, Ralph G. Nuzzo1,3,4, Placid M. Ferreira5, Yonggang Huang6,7, Angus Rockett1 & John A. Rogers1,2,3,4,5
Abstract
The high natural abundance of silicon, together with its excellent reliability and good efficiency in solar cells, suggest its continued use in production of solar energy, on massive scales, for the foreseeable future. Although organics, nanocrystals, nanowires and other new materials hold significant promise, many opportunities continue to exist for research into unconventional means of exploiting silicon in advanced photovoltaic systems. Here, we describe modules that use large-scale arrays of silicon solar microcells created from bulk wafers and integrated in diverse spatial layouts on foreign substrates by transfer printing. The resulting devices can offer useful features, including high degrees of mechanical flexibility, user-definable transparency and ultrathin-form-factor microconcentrator designs. Detailed studies of the processes for creating and manipulating such microcells, together with theoretical and experimental investigations of the electrical, mechanical and optical characteristics of several types of module that incorporate them, illuminate the key aspects.
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
- Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
- Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
- These authors contributed equally to this work
Correspondence to: John A. Rogers1,2,3,4,5 e-mail: jrogers@uiuc.edu
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Photovoltaics Solar cells on curtainsNature Materials News and Views (01 Nov 2008)
Materials science Solar cells go round the bendNature News and Views (09 Oct 2008)
See all 10 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Transfer printing by kinetic control of adhesion to an elastomeric stampNature Materials Letter (01 Jan 2006)
Polymer microstructures formed by moulding in capillariesNature Letters to Editor (17 Aug 1995)
See all 56 matches for Research
