Recent Advances on Photovoltaics and Solar Cells

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Solar Energy and Solar Cells".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 2516

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), Department of Electronic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Interests: optoelectronics including detectors, semiconductor lasers and solar cells; ferroelectric-based physics and devices; two-dimensional materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Novel high-performance optoelectrical materials with robust photoelectric conversion are highly desired for applications in solar cells. Though significant progress involving traditional semiconductor materials has been made in recent decades, breakthroughs, from the point of view of conversion efficiency based on the novel materials or novel principles, still require improvements toward high-performance solar cell devices. Recently, the newly emerging low-dimensional solar cell materials, including the two-dimensional layered structures, conventional or artificially tuned ferroic-based thin films, organic/inorganic perovskite, and some outstanding semiconductor-based solar cell materials are obtained extensive attention and wide investigation. However, these material systems are also facing intrinsic or extrinsic factors limiting the conversion of efficiency, including the preparation technique of material growth, optical/electrical-characterization techniques for the complicate defects in materials and devices, and the in situ monitoring techniques of the carrier recombination/transport dynamics, and even the device structural optimizations.

This Special Issue will provide a feast for systematically reporting the comprehensive research progress on the application of all kinds of solar cell materials, especially for revealing the efficiency bottleneck of the corresponding solar cell structures, which, on the one hand, guides the researchers for high-performance solar cells, and, on the other hand, push the exploring of novel solar materials and novel cell structures. We invite authors to contribute original research articles and review articles covering the current progress on semiconductor-, ferroic-, perovskite-, and low-dimensional-based solar cells. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Exploring of novel semiconductor-based materials and solar cells.
  • Ferroelectric photovoltaics.
  • Perovskite solar cells.
  • Two-dimensional layered solar cells with novel principles.
  • Conventional or moire heterojunction solar cells.
  • Thin film solar cells including Cu-based, e.g., CuZnSnS(Se) and Sb-based, e.g., Sb2Se3, and so on.

Prof. Dr. Fangyu Yue
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • photovoltaic materials
  • two-dimensional
  • thin films
  • ferroelectric
  • perovskite
  • solar cells

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 3049 KiB  
Article
Optical and Electrical Analyses of Solar Cells with a Radial PN Junction and Incorporating an Innovative NW Design That Mimics ARC Layers
by Francisco J. Cabrera-España and B. M. Azizur Rahman
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(10), 1649; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13101649 - 16 May 2023
Viewed by 1307
Abstract
The implementation of a texturing pattern on the surface of a solar cell is well known for reducing reflection, thus increasing the absorption of sunlight by the solar cell. Nanowires (NWs) that are large in their height have been widely used for this [...] Read more.
The implementation of a texturing pattern on the surface of a solar cell is well known for reducing reflection, thus increasing the absorption of sunlight by the solar cell. Nanowires (NWs) that are large in their height have been widely used for this purpose. Through rigorous numerical simulations, this work explores the benefits of short but index-matched NWs and how these designs are also affected by surface recombination. Additionally, this work further optimized power conversion efficiency (PCE) by placing two or three NWs of different heights and diameters on top of each other to mimic the performance of two-NW and three-NW ARC designs with PCEs of 16.8% and 17.55%, respectively, when a radial pn junction is considered. These are the highest reported so far for such a thin silicon solar cell. Furthermore, we also show how these designs were impacted by surface recombination velocity and compare these findings to simple NWs of different heights and diameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances on Photovoltaics and Solar Cells)
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Review

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16 pages, 4169 KiB  
Review
Research Progress of Green Solvent in CsPbBr3 Perovskite Solar Cells
by Jiajie Cheng, Zhenjun Fan and Jingjing Dong
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(6), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13060991 - 9 Mar 2023
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3763
Abstract
In optoelectronic applications, all-Brominated inorganic perovskite CsPbBr3 solar cells have received a great deal of attention because of their remarkable stability and simplicity of production. Most of the solvents used in CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells are toxic, which primarily hinders the [...] Read more.
In optoelectronic applications, all-Brominated inorganic perovskite CsPbBr3 solar cells have received a great deal of attention because of their remarkable stability and simplicity of production. Most of the solvents used in CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells are toxic, which primarily hinders the commercialization of the products. In this review, we introduce the crystal structure and fundamental properties of CsPbBr3 materials and the device structure of perovskite cells, summarize the research progress of green solvents for CsPbBr3 PSCs in recent years from mono-green solvent systems to all-green solvent systems, and discuss the approaches to improving the PCE of CsPbBr3 PSCs, intending to facilitate the sustainable development of CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells. Finally, we survey the future of green solvents in the area of CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances on Photovoltaics and Solar Cells)
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