New Research in Solar Cells: Urbach Tails and Open Circuit Voltage

Authors

  • Michelle Solomon
  • Alison Johnson

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6017/eurj.v11i1.8816

Keywords:

science, natural science, solar cells, Spring 2015, physics

Abstract

The development of various emerging photovoltaic technologies, as classified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has experienced very different rates of progress over the last five to ten years. In particular, two thin-film technologies, quantum dot solar cells and perovskite-based solar cells, have achieved drastically different values for power conversion efficiency as quantum dots have failed to keep up with perovskites. Clearly, the materials are very different, but in order to quantify the discrepancy in efficiency, we focus on measuring the tail of the absorption past the nominal band edge and therefore the Urbach energy of the two materials. We discuss a theoretical relationship between Urbach energy and open circuit voltage based on the original considerations by Shockley and Queisser on the efficiency limits of solar cells.

Author Biography

Michelle Solomon

Michelle Solomon is a senior Physics major at Boston College and has been working in the lab of Professor Michael Naughton of the Physics Department since the Fall of 2012. She has mainly worked on a thin film photovoltaic project that aims to increase light absorption in thin films using an embedded metal nanopattern. This past summer, she participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation at the Uni- versity of Chicago, where she was a research assistant in the physical chemistry lab of Professor Philippe Guyot- Sionnest. While there, she worked with both quantum dots and perovskites. She is planning to pursue her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering after graduation.

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Published

2015-04-01

How to Cite

Solomon, M., & Johnson, A. (2015). New Research in Solar Cells: Urbach Tails and Open Circuit Voltage. Elements, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.6017/eurj.v11i1.8816

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Section

Articles