Nanowire technology could double the efficiency of solar cells
Back
2022/10/27 15:06:08
Beijing, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- A research team at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has developed a way to make ultra-efficient solar cells using semiconductor nanowires. If applied to conventional silicon-based solar cells, this approach promises to double the efficiency of today's silicon solar cells at a low cost. The research was published in ACS Photonics, a journal of the American Chemical Society.
Lead developer Anjan Mukherjee, a PhD candidate at NTNU, said their new method uses gallium arsenide materials and nanostructures in a very efficient way, so it can improve the efficiency of solar cells using only a small fraction of commonly used materials.
Gallium arsenide is the best material for making highly efficient solar cells because of its extraordinary light absorption and electrical properties, and is commonly used to make space solar panels. However, high quality gallium arsenide solar cell modules are quite expensive to manufacture. In recent years, it has been realized that nanowire structures can potentially improve the efficiency of solar cells using less material than standard flat solar cells.
NTNU researcher Haig Wieman said the team found a new way to make ultra-high power solar cells that are more than 10 times more efficient than any other solar cell by using gallium arsenide in a nanowire structure.
Gallium arsenide solar cells are typically grown on thick and expensive gallium arsenide substrates, leaving little room for cost reduction. The new method uses vertically standing semiconductor nanowire arrays to grow nanowires on an inexpensive silicon platform. Professor Wieman explained that the most cost-effective and efficient solution would be to grow dual series cells, with the gallium arsenide nanowire cell on top growing on top of the silicon cell on the bottom, thus avoiding the use of expensive gallium arsenide substrates.
The researchers used molecular beam epitaxy to grow nanowires, a technique that can be directly cost-effective with the right investment and industrial-scale research and development. The researchers say integrating the product on top of a silicon cell could increase the efficiency of the cell to 40 percent, which represents a doubling of the efficiency compared to today's commercial silicon solar cells. Adapting the nanowires to grow on different substrates using new methods could also open the door to many other applications.
The researchers say they are exploring growing this type of lightweight nanowire structure on atomically sized two-wiki plates such as graphene. It has great potential for self-powered drones, microsatellites and a wide range of other space applications.
This article by: "Germany sunshine battery wholesale" published in the "battery community"
Previous
