Enhancing the performance of photovoltaic cells by using down-converting KCaGd(PO4)2:Eu3+ phosphors

The goal of this work is aimed to improve the power conversion efficiency of single crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) cells by using the solar spectral conversion principle, which employed a down-converting phosphor to convert a high-energy ultraviolet photon to the less energetic red-emitting photons to improve the spectral response of Si solar cells. In this study, the surface of silicon solar cells was coated with a red-emitting KCaGd(PO4)2:Eu3+ phosphor by using the screen-printing technique. In addition to the investigation on the microstructure using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we measured the short circuit current (Isc), open circuit voltage (Voc), and power conversion efficiency (η) of spectral-conversion cells and compared with those of bare solar cells as a reference. Preliminary experimental results revealed that in an optimized PV cell, an enhancement of (0.64+0.01)% (from 16.03% to 16.67%) in Δ η of a Si-based PV cell was achieved.