Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
News and Views
Nature Photonics 2, 72 - 73 (2008)
doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.288
Solar cells: Slicing and dicing photons
Randy Ellingson1
- Randy Ellingson is at the Center for Chemical Sciences and Biosciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA.
e-mail: Randy_Ellingson@nrel.gov
Abstract
Solar cells take advantage of our most abundant source of energy, the Sun. A technique that improves the conversion of photons to electrons could potentially lead to a dramatic improvement in device efficiency.
Optimizing the conversion of photons to electrical energy, with minimal thermal loss, provides a fundamental scientific challenge that promises significant advances for solar-energy technology. The efficiency of conventional single-bandgap photovoltaic cells is limited by the heat generated as the photogenerated electrons and holes scatter from phonons and relax to a lower energy state (Fig. 1
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
Space-separated quantum cutting with silicon nanocrystals for photovoltaic applicationsNature Photonics Article (01 Feb 2008)
How single conjugated polymer molecules respond to electric fieldsNature Materials Article (01 Feb 2006)
High-efficiency carrier multiplication through direct photogeneration of multi-excitons via virtual single-exciton statesNature Physics Article (01 Dec 2005)
