Title :
Intermediate band solar cells
Author :
Martí, Antonio ; Luque, Antonio
Author_Institution :
Inst. de Energa Solar, Univ. Politec. de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Abstract :
This paper presents the basic structure and operation of intermediate band solar cells (IBSC). In this photovoltaic device, the energy of below band gap energy photons is exploited. The absorption of below band gap energy photons via transitions from the valence band to the intermediate band (IB) and from the IB to the conduction band is presented. Furthermore, the determination of IBSC´s output voltage through the split between electron and hole quasi-Fermi levels, which is limited by the total bandgap, is also discussed.
Keywords :
Fermi level; conduction bands; energy gap; solar cells; valence bands; below band gap energy photons; conduction band; intermediate band; intermediate band solar cells; output voltage determination; photon absorption; photovoltaic device; quasiFermi levels; total bandgap; valence band; Absorption; Conducting materials; Electron devices; III-V semiconductor materials; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Physics; Solar power generation; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
OptoElectronics and Communications Conference, 2009. OECC 2009. 14th
Conference_Location :
Hong Kong
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4102-0
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4103-7
DOI :
10.1109/OECC.2009.5213791
