THREE DIMENSIONAL SOLAR CELLS ---- BASED ON OPTICAL CONFINEMENT GEOMETRIES

The three dimensional (3D) solar cells were designed to improve the overall performance of organic absorbers using optical confinement geometry such as fiber and tube, briefly Optical Confinement Geometry Photovoltaics (OCGPV). The idea behind this device was to decouple the optical path of the incoming light from the collection pathway for current in the hope of absorbing a larger fraction of the solar spectrum without accompanying recombination or specular reflective losses. The physical natures of OCGPV can be described and revealed through 3 models: Equivalent circuit, Optical path in cavity, and Spectral response, by which we can explain why OCGPV has a higher absorption and corresponding Jsc, why the EQE spectrum is higher and broader comparing the planar cell, and even why OCGPV would be able to performance better at very high light intensity. Based the ideas from these models, 3 series of OCGPV devices are designed and also introduced in this work: Individual optical confinement geometry device, Integrated optical confinement geometry device, and Hybrid optical confinement geometry device. Our goals here are to ultimately point the way that 3D photovoltaics can begin to compete with the conventional planar solar cell and become an industrial product.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Li, Yuan

• heterogeneous

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/37296

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/37296