Solar cells articles within Nature Materials

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  • Letter |

    There are a number of approaches to coupling light with thin-film devices such as solar cells. The demonstration now that multiple scattering processes in two-dimensional random media enable efficient light trapping suggests new possibilities for photon management with the benefit of broad spectral and angular operation.

    • Kevin Vynck
    • , Matteo Burresi
    •  & Diederik S. Wiersma

  • News & Views |

    Upconversion nanoparticles that convert low-energy light into high-energy light hold promise for boosting solar-cell efficiency and enabling highly sensitive biological assays. But their spectral conversion under broadband excitation has been challenging, until now.

    • Xiaoji Xie
    •  & Xiaogang Liu

  • Article |

    Molecular orientation, which critically influences the properties of organic materials, could until now only be characterized if the sample exhibited sufficient crystallinity. Resonant scattering of polarized soft X-rays by aromatic carbon bonds has now been used to probe non-crystalline ordering and molecular orientation in thin films with a resolution down to 20 nm.

    • B. A. Collins
    • , J. E. Cochran
    •  & H. Ade

  • Editorial |

    Progress in photovoltaic technology could soon mean grid parity for solar electricity. In this issue we highlight scientific as well as science-policy strategies aimed towards achieving this goal.

  • Interview |

    The funding approach taken by the US Department of Energy's SunShot programme, which aims to develop competitive solar technology, has proved very successful. Its director, R. Ramesh, explains why.

    • Joerg Heber

  • Commentary |

    For decades, solar-cell efficiencies have remained below the thermodynamic limits. However, new approaches to light management that systematically minimize thermodynamic losses will enable ultrahigh efficiencies previously considered impossible.

    • Albert Polman
    •  & Harry A. Atwater

  • Letter |

    Polymer-based bulk-heterojunction solar cells have shown some of the highest photoconversion efficiencies in organic photovoltaics, but polymer polydispersity impacts their performance. A small-molecule donor is now reported that enables the fabrication of bulk-heterojunction devices with low acceptor content and photoconversion efficiencies of up to 6.7%.

    • Yanming Sun
    • , Gregory C. Welch
    •  & Alan J. Heeger

  • Article |

    Inorganic nanocrystals are attractive materials for solar-cell applications. However, their performance is often limited by an insufficient alignment of internal energy levels. A tuning of these energy levels has now been achieved by attaching two different molecules to a single nanocrystal, which significantly alters its electronic and optoelectronic properties.

    • Nir Yaacobi-Gross
    • , Michal Soreni-Harari
    •  & Nir Tessler

  • Letter |

    The use of flexible polymer substrates not only reduces weight and fabrication costs of solar cells, but their bendability also enables new applications. A careful design of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells grown on polymer substrates now solves earlier fabrication issues, leading to conversion efficiencies matching those grown on rigid substrates.

    • Adrian Chirilă
    • , Stephan Buecheler
    •  & Ayodhya N. Tiwari

  • Article |

    One of the key loss mechanisms in the operation of organic solar cells is the separation and extraction of the generated charge carriers from the active region. The use of a ferroelectric layer is now shown to create large internal electric fields, resulting in an enhanced carrier extraction and increased device efficiency.

    • Yongbo Yuan
    • , Timothy J. Reece
    •  & Jinsong Huang

  • News & Views |

    Excitons in a highly ordered organic semiconductor are found to diffuse over distances of a few micrometres. This may pave the way towards designing efficient excitonic solar cells.

    • Carlos Silva

  • Article |

    The conversion of solar energy into electricity usually occurs either electrically or through thermal conversion. A new mechanism, photon-enhanced thermionic emission, which combines electric as well as thermal conversion mechanisms, is now shown to lead to enhanced conversion efficiencies that potentially could even exceed the theoretical limits of conventional photovoltaic cells.

    • Jared W. Schwede
    • , Igor Bargatin
    •  & Nicholas A. Melosh

  • Editorial |

    Light-concentration effects in photonic nanostructures, reviewed in this issue, promise new applications ranging from tumour therapy to catalysis and enhanced solar cells.

  • News & Views |

    A solar-cell design based on silicon microwires achieves efficient absorption of sunlight while using only 1% of the active material used in conventional designs.

    • Jia Zhu
    •  & Yi Cui

  • Review Article |

    This review article surveys the potential of using plasmonic nanostructures to enhance the absorption of photovoltaic devices. As a result, the physical thickness of solar cells can be reduced, leading to new photovoltaic-device designs.

    • Harry A. Atwater
    •  & Albert Polman

  • Letter |

    The use of silicon nanostructures in solar cells offers a number of benefits, such as the fact they can be used on flexible substrates. A silicon wire-array structure, containing reflecting nanoparticles for enhanced absorption, is now shown to achieve 96% peak absorption efficiency, capturing 85% of light with only 1% of the silicon used in comparable commercial cells.

    • Michael D. Kelzenberg
    • , Shannon W. Boettcher
    •  & Harry A. Atwater

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