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Colloidal Quantum dot film solar cells reach 7% efficiency
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The researchers, led by U of T Engineering Professor Ted Sargent, created a solar cell out of inexpensive materials that was certified at a world-record 7.0% efficiency.
“Previously, quantum dot solar cells have been limited by the large internal surface areas of the nanoparticles in the film, which made extracting electricity difficult,” said Dr. Susanna Thon, a lead co-author of the paper. “Our breakthrough was to use a combination of organic and inorganic chemistry to completely cover all of the exposed surfaces.”
Given the practical limitations associated with reducing balance-of-systems costs, it is widely believed that a long-term viable solar technology — even one with an unprecedentedly low module cost — must offer a clear roadmap to achieving power- conversion efficiencies of more than 20%.
Half of the Sun’s energy the Earth lies in the visible band, while the other half is in the infrared range. If a single light-absorbing semiconductor is employed in a solar module, its bandgap must lie in the near-infrared (around 1.1–1.4 to offer a theoretical limit of 31% under unconcentrated illumination conditions.)
When a single-junction power-conversion efficiency of 10% is eventually reached, the
multijunction strategy can be deployed to engineer these low-cost, flexible materials
into devices with efficiencies of 15%.
See more and subscribe to NextBigFuture at 2012-07-29 12:01:46 Source: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/07/colloidal-quantum-dot-film-solar-cells.html
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