Title :
A kinetic rate model of novel upconversion nanostructures for high-efficiency photovoltaics
Author :
Eric Y. Chen; Jing Zhang;Diane G. Sellers;Yujun Zhong;Joshua M. O. Zide;Matthew F. Doty
Author_Institution :
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, 19716 USA
fDate :
6/1/2015 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We present a computational model for predicting the net solar energy conversion efficiency of a single-junction solar cell backed by a solid-state photon upconversion nanostructure. We model the upconversion process using a series of kinetic rate equations to calculate equilibrium populations. We determine the upconversion quantum efficiency (UQE) of the proposed device as a function of intentionally introduced photon energy sacrifice (PES). Combining this result with the detailed balance method for estimating solar cell efficiency, we are able to optimize the nanostructure design to achieve as high as 39% net solar conversion efficiency for a GaAs host cell.
Keywords :
"Mathematical model","Photovoltaic cells","Absorption","Computational modeling","Photonic band gap","Radiative recombination"
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2015 IEEE 42nd
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2015.7356447
