If energy production and consumption doesn't balance out in the near future, cost will continue to grow. For a more efficient, and cost effective way of producing sustainable energy, there should be continues push for innovation in photovoltaic (PV)
electricity generation.Abstract from research paper:
In order to increase the efficiency of single-junction cells beyond the Shockley-Queisser limit, several approaches based on concepts such as multiple exciton generation, carrier multiplication, hot-carrier extraction, etc., have been proposed; however, these do not seem to be commercially viable. Since both bulk-silicon and thin-film (amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide) solar cells remain the only two commercially viable options for terrestrial PV applications.
This is a multi-terminal multi-junction architecture that appears promising for inexpensive PV electricity generation with efficiency exceeding the currently feasible 25%. The architecture exploits the present commercial silicon solar cells along with abundant and ultra-low-cost materials such as Cu2O. With the availability of well-controlled manufacturing processes at the sub 2-nm length scale, it will become possible to manufacture ultra-high efficiency and ultra-low cost PV electricity generation modules based on silicon.
Study Credit:
Rajendra Singh, D. Houser Banks Professor in the Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and PhD student Githin F. Alapatt at Clemson University, and Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder (Endowed) Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics at the Pennsylvania State University.
Publication:
IEEE Journal of Electron Devices (Volume 1, number 6, June 2013 Issue): Making Solar Cells a Reality in Every Home: Opportunities and Challenges for Photovoltaic Device Design
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