Soft-Microstructured Transparent Electrodes for Photonic-Enhanced Flexible Solar Cells

Microstructured transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have shown great potential as photonic electrodes in photovoltaic (PV) applications, providing both optical and electrical improvements in the solar cells’ performance due to: (1) strong light trapping effects that enhance broadband light absorption in PV material and (2) the reduced sheet resistance of the front illuminated contact. This work developed a method for the fabrication and optimization of wavelength-sized indium zinc oxide (IZO) microstructures, which were soft-patterned on flexible indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates via a simple, low-cost, versatile, and highly scalable colloidal lithography process. Using this method, the ITO-coated PET substrates patterned with IZO micro-meshes provided improved transparent electrodes endowed with strong light interaction effects—namely, a pronounced light scattering performance (diffuse transmittance up to ~50%). In addition, the photonic-structured IZO mesh allowed a higher volume of TCO material in the electrode while maintaining the desired transparency, which led to a sheet resistance reduction (by ~30%), thereby providing further electrical benefits due to the improvement of the contact conductance. The results reported herein pave the way for a new class of photonic transparent electrodes endowed with mechanical flexibility that offer strong potential not only as advanced front contacts for thin-film bendable solar cells but also for a much broader range of optoelectronic applications.

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Two-Dimensional Modeling of Silicon Nanowires Radial Core-Shell Solar Cells

Advances in Condensed Matter Physics ◽

10.1155/2018/7203493 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Qiang Zeng ◽

Na Meng ◽

Yulong Ma ◽

Han Gu ◽

Jing Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Silicon Nanowires ◽

Light Absorption ◽

Low Cost ◽

Light Trapping ◽

Electrical Performance ◽

Core Shell ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Strong Light ◽

The Impact

Silicon nanowires radial core-shell solar cells have recently attracted significant attention as promising candidates for low cost photovoltaic application, benefit from its strong light trapping, and short radial carrier collection distances. In order to establish optics and electricity improvement, a two-dimensional model based on Shockley-Read-Hall recombination modes has been carried out for radial core-shell junction nanowires solar cell combined with guided resonance modes of light absorption. The impact of SiNWs diameter and absorption layer thickness on device electrical performance based on a fixed nanowires height and diameter-over-periodicity were investigated under illumination. The variation in quantum efficiency indicated that the performance is limited by the mismatch between light absorption and carriers’ collection length.

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Room-Temperature Solution-Processed 0D/1D Bilayer Electrodes for Translucent CsPbBr3 Perovskite Photovoltaics

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11061489 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1489

Author(s):

Bhaskar Parida ◽

Saemon Yoon ◽

Dong-Won Kang

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Indium Tin Oxide ◽

High Performance ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Low Cost ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Plasma Damage ◽

Temperature Solution ◽

Ito Nanoparticles

Materials and processing of transparent electrodes (TEs) are key factors to creating high-performance translucent perovskite solar cells. To date, sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) has been a general option for a rear TE of translucent solar cells. However, it requires a rather high cost due to vacuum process and also typically causes plasma damage to the underlying layer. Therefore, we introduced TE based on ITO nanoparticles (ITO-NPs) by solution processing in ambient air without any heat treatment. As it reveals insufficient conductivity, Ag nanowires (Ag-NWs) are additionally coated. The ITO-NPs/Ag-NW (0D/1D) bilayer TE exhibits a better figure of merit than sputtered ITO. After constructing CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells, the device with 0D/1D TE offers similar average visible transmission with the cells with sputtered ITO. More interestingly, the power conversion efficiency of 0D/1D TE device was 5.64%, which outperforms the cell (4.14%) made with sputtered-ITO. These impressive findings could open up a new pathway for the development of low-cost, translucent solar cells with quick processing under ambient air at room temperature.

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Poly(ethylene terephthalate): Rubbish could be low cost anode material of lithium ion battery

Solid State Ionics ◽

10.1016/j.ssi.2018.01.024 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 317 ◽

pp. 164-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Pengkun Sun ◽

Huili Lu ◽

Wanwan Zhang ◽

Huijiao Wu ◽

Shaorui Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lithium Ion Battery ◽

Anode Material ◽

Ethylene Terephthalate ◽

Low Cost ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

Poly Ethylene Terephthalate ◽

Poly Ethylene

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Low-cost semi-transparent copper sulfide electrode for indium-tin-oxide-free perovskite solar cells

Thin Solid Films ◽

10.1016/j.tsf.2018.07.037 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 662 ◽

pp. 90-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Juan Tirado ◽

Daniel Ramirez ◽

Rafael Betancur ◽

Franklin Jaramillo

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Tin Oxide ◽

Indium Tin Oxide ◽

Copper Sulfide ◽

Low Cost ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells

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Fabrication and Photovoltaic Characteristics of Coaxial Silicon Nanowire Solar Cells Prepared by Wet Chemical Etching

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2012/701809 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Chien-Wei Liu ◽

Chin-Lung Cheng ◽

Bau-Tong Dai ◽

Chi-Han Yang ◽

Jun-Yuan Wang

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Silicon Nanowires ◽

Chemical Etching ◽

Low Cost ◽

Light Trapping ◽

Silicon Nanowire ◽

Great Promise ◽

Etching Time ◽

Wet Chemical ◽

Wet Chemical Etching

Nanostructured solar cells with coaxial p-n junction structures have strong potential to enhance the performances of the silicon-based solar cells. This study demonstrates a radial junction silicon nanowire (RJSNW) solar cell that was fabricated simply and at low cost using wet chemical etching. Experimental results reveal that the reflectance of the silicon nanowires (SNWs) declines as their length increases. The excellent light trapping was mainly associated with high aspect ratio of the SNW arrays. A conversion efficiency of ∼7.1% and an external quantum efficiency of ∼64.6% at 700 nm were demonstrated. Control of etching time and diffusion conditions holds great promise for the development of future RJSNW solar cells. Improving the electrode/RJSNW contact will promote the collection of carries in coaxial core-shell SNW array solar cells.

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Metallic Nanowire Percolating Network: From Main Properties to Applications

Smart Nanosystems for Biomedicine, Optoelectronics and Catalysis ◽

10.5772/intechopen.89281 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Bellet ◽

Dorina T. Papanastasiou ◽

Joao Resende ◽

Viet Huong Nguyen ◽

Carmen Jiménez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indium Tin Oxide ◽

Mechanical Stability ◽

Low Cost ◽

Transparent Electrodes ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Energy Technologies ◽

New Generation ◽

Industrial Demand ◽

High Mechanical Stability ◽

Percolating Network

There has been lately a growing interest into flexible, efficient and low-cost transparent electrodes which can be integrated for many applications. This includes several applications related to energy technologies (photovoltaics, lighting, supercapacitor, electrochromism, etc.) or displays (touch screens, transparent heaters, etc.) as well as Internet of Things (IoT) linked with renewable energy and autonomous devices. This associated industrial demand for low-cost and flexible industrial devices is rapidly increasing, creating a need for a new generation of transparent electrodes (TEs). Indium tin oxide has so far dominated the field of TE, but indium’s scarcity and brittleness have prompted a search into alternatives. Metallic nanowire (MNW) networks appear to be one of the most promising emerging TEs. Randomly deposited MNW networks, for instance, can present sheet resistance values below 10 Ω/sq., optical transparency of 90% and high mechanical stability under bending tests. AgNW or CuNW networks are destined to address a large variety of emerging applications. The main properties of MNW networks, their stability and their integration in energy devices are discussed in this contribution.

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