Solar Power Electric Cells, Switches and Outlets

Scientists report first solar cell producing more electrons in photocurrent ...

01.01.70

The foreign quantum efficiency for photocurrent, usually expressed as a percentage, is the number of electrons flowing per second in the outside circuit of a solar cell divided by the number of photons per second of a specific energy (or wavelength) that enter the solar apartment. None of the solar cells to date exhibit external photocurrent quantum efficiencies above 100 percent at any wavelength in the solar spectrum.

The outer quantum efficiency reached a peak value of 114 percent. The newly reported work marks a reassuring step toward developing Next Generation Solar Cells for both solar electricity and solar fuels that will be competitive with, or perhaps less costly than, energy from fossil or nuclear fuels.

Multiple Exciton Formulation is key to making it possible

A paper on the breakthrough appears in the Dec. 16 issue of Science Magazine. Titled “Rise External Photocurrent Quantum Efficiency Exceeding 100 percent via MEG in a Quantum Dot Solar Cell,” it is co-authored by NREL scientists Octavi E. Semonin, Joseph M. Luther, Sukgeun Choi, Hsiang-Yu Chen, Jianbo Gao, Arthur J. Nozikand Matthew C. Beard. The research was supported by the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics, an Spirit Frontier Research Center funded by the DOE Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Semonin and Nozik are also united with the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Source: PhysOrg.com