Nanowire array photovoltaics: Radial disorder versus design for optimal efficiency

Solar cell designs based on disordered nanostructures tend to have higher efficiencies than structures with uniform absorbers, though the reason is poorly understood. To resolve this, we use a semi-analytic approach to determine the physical mechanism leading to enhanced efficiency in arrays contain...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2012-10, Vol.101 (17)
Main Authors: Sturmberg, C P, Dossou, Kokou B, Botten, Lindsay C, Asatryan, Ara A, Poulton, Christopher G, McPhedran, Ross C, Sterke, Martijn de
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrays
Design engineering
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanostructure
Nanowires
Optimization
Photovoltaic cells
Solar cells
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Solar cell designs based on disordered nanostructures tend to have higher efficiencies than structures with uniform absorbers, though the reason is poorly understood. To resolve this, we use a semi-analytic approach to determine the physical mechanism leading to enhanced efficiency in arrays containing nanowires with a variety of radii. We use our findings to systematically design arrays that outperform randomly composed structures. An ultimate efficiency of 23.75% is achieved with an array containing 30% silicon, an increase of almost 10% over a homogeneous film of equal thickness.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4761957