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Semiconductor nanowire array for transparent photovoltaic applications

Chen, Yang LU ; Hrachowina, Lukas LU ; Barrigon, Enrique LU ; Beech, Jason P. LU ; Alcer, David LU orcid ; Lyttleton, Roman LU ; Jam, Reza Jafari LU ; Samuelson, Lars LU ; Linke, Heiner LU orcid and Borgström, Magnus LU (2021) In Applied Physics Letters 118(19).
Abstract

The surface area of a building that could potentially be used for Building Integrated Photovoltaics would increase dramatically with the availability of transparent solar cells that could replace windows. The challenge is to capture energy from outside the visible region (UV or IR) while simultaneously allowing a high-quality observation of the outside world and transmitting sufficient light in the visible region to satisfactorily illuminate the interior of the building. In this paper, we show both computationally and experimentally that InP nanowire arrays can have good transparency in the visible region and high absorption in the near-infrared region. We show experimentally that we can achieve mean transparencies in the visible region... (More)

The surface area of a building that could potentially be used for Building Integrated Photovoltaics would increase dramatically with the availability of transparent solar cells that could replace windows. The challenge is to capture energy from outside the visible region (UV or IR) while simultaneously allowing a high-quality observation of the outside world and transmitting sufficient light in the visible region to satisfactorily illuminate the interior of the building. In this paper, we show both computationally and experimentally that InP nanowire arrays can have good transparency in the visible region and high absorption in the near-infrared region. We show experimentally that we can achieve mean transparencies in the visible region of 65% and the radiative limit of more than 10% based on measured absorption and calculated emission. Our results demonstrate that nanowire arrays hold promise as a method to achieve transparent solar cells, which would fulfill the requirements to function as windows. In addition, we show that by optical design and by designing the geometry of nanowire arrays, solar cells can be achieved that absorb/transmit at wavelengths that are not decided by the bandgap of the material and that can be tailored to specific requirements such as colorful windows.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Applied Physics Letters
volume
118
issue
19
article number
191107
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85105889346
ISSN
0003-6951
DOI
10.1063/5.0046909
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Funding Information: We acknowledge financial support from the NanoLund Seedling Project, the Swedish Research Council (project Rambidrag), the Swedish Energy Agency, and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Project No. KAW 2016.0089). We would like to thank Professor Jos Haverkort and his students Ilya Kolpakov and Emanuele Bochicchio for their effort in the testing of top-down nanowires. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
id
4353d7b8-c121-4203-a42d-c05896a590cc
date added to LUP
2021-06-01 11:08:29
date last changed
2024-03-08 13:04:51
@article{4353d7b8-c121-4203-a42d-c05896a590cc,
  abstract     = {{<p>The surface area of a building that could potentially be used for Building Integrated Photovoltaics would increase dramatically with the availability of transparent solar cells that could replace windows. The challenge is to capture energy from outside the visible region (UV or IR) while simultaneously allowing a high-quality observation of the outside world and transmitting sufficient light in the visible region to satisfactorily illuminate the interior of the building. In this paper, we show both computationally and experimentally that InP nanowire arrays can have good transparency in the visible region and high absorption in the near-infrared region. We show experimentally that we can achieve mean transparencies in the visible region of 65% and the radiative limit of more than 10% based on measured absorption and calculated emission. Our results demonstrate that nanowire arrays hold promise as a method to achieve transparent solar cells, which would fulfill the requirements to function as windows. In addition, we show that by optical design and by designing the geometry of nanowire arrays, solar cells can be achieved that absorb/transmit at wavelengths that are not decided by the bandgap of the material and that can be tailored to specific requirements such as colorful windows.</p>}},
  author       = {{Chen, Yang and Hrachowina, Lukas and Barrigon, Enrique and Beech, Jason P. and Alcer, David and Lyttleton, Roman and Jam, Reza Jafari and Samuelson, Lars and Linke, Heiner and Borgström, Magnus}},
  issn         = {{0003-6951}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{19}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{Applied Physics Letters}},
  title        = {{Semiconductor nanowire array for transparent photovoltaic applications}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0046909}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/5.0046909}},
  volume       = {{118}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}