Light-trapping structures are more demanding for optimal light absorption in thin film silicon solar cells. Accordingly, new design engineering of solar cells has been emphasized and found to be effective to achieve improved performance. This paper deals with a design of thin film silicon solar cells and explores the influence of bottom grating and combination of top and bottom (dual) grating a...

Plasmonic nanostructures have been recently investigated as a possible way to improve absorption of light in solar cells. The strong interaction of small metal nanostructures with light allows control over the propagation of light at the nanoscale and thus the design of ultrathin solar cells in which light is trapped in the active layer and efficiently absorbed. In this paper we review some of ...

Several strategies are currently being investigated for conversion of incident sunlight into renewable sources of energy, and photocatalytic or photoelectrochemical production of solar fuels can provide an important alternative. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been heavily investigated as a material of choice due to its excellent optoelectronic properties and stability, and anion-doping proposed as...

The storage of solar energy is one of the main challenges in the near future. A rather unexploited way to fulfil this goal is the solar light induced formation of new chemical bonds, i.e. the synthesis of chemicals. Solar photons can be considered the ideal green reagents since they are costless and leave no residue in the reaction mixture. In many cases the solar radiation could be successfull...

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In this study, a novel magnetic nanocomposite (Ba-α-Bi2O3-γ-Fe2O3) was successfully synthesized through a combination of ultrasound and co-precipitation method under mild conditions. The structure of the synthesized nano-composite as a visible light photocatalyst was investigated by the XRD, TEM, HRTEM, UV-vis and FT-IR. The HRTEM confirmed that the nano-magnetic composites are rods with diamet...

In this study, we investigated the effect of using large TiO2 nanoparticles in the matrix of small nanoparticles to improve the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), as light scatter to increase the light harvesting. The mixed powder was deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) on FTO (F-SnO2 coated glass). It is shown that adding small quantity of larger...

Short-wavelength visible light (blue light) of the Sun has caused retinal damage in people who have stared fixedly at the Sun without adequate protection. The author quantified the blue-light hazard of the Sun according to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines by measuring the spectral radiance of the Sun. The results showed that the exposure limi...