Uploaded April 2015 | Updated September 2026, 49 minutes ago
Abstract
The world is in need of a prominent alternative energy source soon, as population and waste production increase exponentially. Photovoltaics is one of the many ways that we can make the world cleaner for the generations to come. However, the industry is plagued with a materials issue; as of now, there is no material available that can convert the majority of wattage and energy emitted by the sun into electricity for homes and appliances. Currently, the most prevalent material used for the production of solar cells is crystalline silicon or another similar semiconductor. This is based off of a p and n junction system where there are two layers of semiconductor with opposite polarity. The efficiency for these cells range from 11 to 16 percent efficiency. The average efficiency for semiconductor cells is low because the material cannot absorb most of the wave radiation emitted by the sun. There are solar cells that have been fabricated in a four-junction series that reach up to 46% efficiency; however, these are very expensive to produce. One new material, perovskite, has had exponentially increasing efficiency producing electricity. It has reached efficiencies as high as 18 to 20 percent with only a few years of research. We plan to explore the material limitations that are currently present in semiconductor p and n junction solar cells. We will compare these limitations to the successes and limitations of perovskite solar cells. We will also analyze the difficult process of getting new types of photovoltaic cells (like perovskite) on the market for mass production and consumer purchase.
References:
Book:
Shah, Arvind. Thin-film Silicon Solar Cells. Lausanne: EPFL, 2010. Print.
Journal:
Chapin, D. M. A New Silicon Junction Photocell for Converting Solar Radiation into Electrical Power (2015): 6 Mar. 2015.
Web Articles:
Katz, Cheryl. "Will New Technologies Give Critical Boost to Solar Power?" (2014): n. pag. Yale Environment 360. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
"Anomalous Band Gap Behavior in Mixed Sn and Pb Perovskites Enables Broadening of Absorption Spectrum in Solar Cells." (2014): n. pag. American Chemical Society. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
Abstract
The world is in need of a prominent alternative energy source soon, as population and waste production increase exponentially. Photovoltaics is one of the many ways that we can make the world cleaner for the generations to come. However, the industry is plagued with a materials issue; as of now, there is no material available that can convert the majority of wattage and energy emitted by the sun into electricity for homes and appliances. Currently, the most prevalent material used for the production of solar cells is crystalline silicon or another similar semiconductor. This is based off of a p and n junction system where there are two layers of semiconductor with opposite polarity. The efficiency for these cells range from 11 to 16 percent efficiency. The average efficiency for semiconductor cells is low because the material cannot absorb most of the wave radiation emitted by the sun. There are solar cells that have been fabricated in a four-junction series that reach up to 46% efficiency; however, these are very expensive to produce. One new material, perovskite, has had exponentially increasing efficiency producing electricity. It has reached efficiencies as high as 18 to 20 percent with only a few years of research. We plan to explore the material limitations that are currently present in semiconductor p and n junction solar cells. We will compare these limitations to the successes and limitations of perovskite solar cells. We will also analyze the difficult process of getting new types of photovoltaic cells (like perovskite) on the market for mass production and consumer purchase.
References:
Book:
Shah, Arvind. Thin-film Silicon Solar Cells. Lausanne: EPFL, 2010. Print.
Journal:
Chapin, D. M. A New Silicon Junction Photocell for Converting Solar Radiation into Electrical Power (2015): 6 Mar. 2015.
Web Articles:
Katz, Cheryl. "Will New Technologies Give Critical Boost to Solar Power?" (2014): n. pag. Yale Environment 360. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
"Anomalous Band Gap Behavior in Mixed Sn and Pb Perovskites Enables Broadening of Absorption Spectrum in Solar Cells." (2014): n. pag. American Chemical Society. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
