Photon frequency management for trapping & concentration of sunlight
Photon frequency management for trapping & concentration of sunlight
This paper considers a range of techniques which – within the realm of classical optics – can be used to enhance light capture as a first step in photovoltaic energy conversion. Examples include a simple case of downshifting, fluorescent collectors which reduce the size of a light beam, and a novel form of light trapping to increase the path length of light within the solar cell. The results are discussed using a thermodynamic framework where the energy exchange with an absorbing/fluorescent medium allows the entropy of the captured photon gas to be lowered, reducing the étendue of the emitted beam. We show that frequency management represents a powerful tool, allowing enhancement in light trapping above the Yablononovitch limit, leading to potentially highly efficient but very thin crystalline silicon solar cells.
Markvart, Tomas
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Danos, Lefteris
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Fang, Liping
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Parel, Thomas
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Soleimani, Nazila
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Markvart, Tomas
f21e82ec-4e3b-4485-9f27-ffc0102fdf1c
Danos, Lefteris
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Fang, Liping
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Parel, Thomas
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Soleimani, Nazila
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Markvart, Tomas, Danos, Lefteris, Fang, Liping, Parel, Thomas and Soleimani, Nazila
(2012)
Photon frequency management for trapping & concentration of sunlight.
RSC Advances, (8).
(doi:10.1039/c2ra01160c).
Abstract
This paper considers a range of techniques which – within the realm of classical optics – can be used to enhance light capture as a first step in photovoltaic energy conversion. Examples include a simple case of downshifting, fluorescent collectors which reduce the size of a light beam, and a novel form of light trapping to increase the path length of light within the solar cell. The results are discussed using a thermodynamic framework where the energy exchange with an absorbing/fluorescent medium allows the entropy of the captured photon gas to be lowered, reducing the étendue of the emitted beam. We show that frequency management represents a powerful tool, allowing enhancement in light trapping above the Yablononovitch limit, leading to potentially highly efficient but very thin crystalline silicon solar cells.
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c2ra01160c
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e-pub ahead of print date: 30 January 2012
Organisations:
Engineering Science Unit
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Local EPrints ID: 334194
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/334194
ISSN: 2046-2069
PURE UUID: b76b4193-b86e-4e36-a2c5-09da56b9fa57
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Date deposited: 06 Mar 2012 13:45
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:33
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Author:
Lefteris Danos
Author:
Liping Fang
Author:
Thomas Parel
Author:
Nazila Soleimani
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