Thin film silicon tandem junction solar cells based on amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (lc-Si:H) were developed with focus on high open-circuit voltages for the application as photocathodes in integrated photoelectrochemical cells for water electrolysis. By adjusting various parameters in the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process of the individual lc-Si:H sin...

•A strategy to suppress halide segregation and reduce nonradiative recombination loss •Certified 28.2% efficient perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells on a textured structure •Significant stability improvement upon carbazole treatment Stacking perovskite onto crystalline silicon bottom in monolithic configuration enables power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) well above those of their single-junc...

Graphene is constantly hyped as a game-changer for flexible transparent displays. However, to date, no solar cell fabricated on graphene electrodes has out-performed indium tin oxide in power conversion efficiency (PCE). This Perspective covers the enabling roles that graphene can play in solar cells because of its unique properties. Compared to transparent and conducting metal oxides, graphene...

Photoelectrochemical water splitting uses solar power to decompose water to hydrogen and oxygen. Here we show how the photocatalytic activity of thylakoid membranes leads to overall water splitting in a bio-photo-electro-chemical (BPEC) cell via a simple process. Thylakoids extracted from spinach are introduced into a BPEC cell containing buffer solution with ferricyanide. Upon solar-simulated ...

High performance of organic tandem solar cell is largely dependent on transparent and conductive intermediate layer (IML). The current work reports the design and fabrication of an IML using a simple solution process. The efficiency of a homo-tandem device with poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester as an active layer and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfona...

In this study, the environmental impacts of monolithic silicon heterojunction organometallic perovskite tandem cells (SHJ-PSC) and single junction organometallic perovskite solar cells (PSC) are compared with the impacts of crystalline silicon based solar cells using a prospective life cycle assessment with a time horizon of 2025. This approach provides a result range depending on key parameter...

Recently, ultrathin crystalline silicon solar cells have gained tremendous interest because they are deemed to dramatically reduce material usage. However, the resulting conversion efficiency is still limited by the incomplete light absorption in such ultrathin devices. In this letter, we propose ultrathin a-Si/c-Si tandem solar cells with an efficient light trapping design, where a nanopyramid...

Quantum wells enable solar cell bandgaps to be tailored to the theoretical optimum, under the assumption of unity absorption. In practice however, quantum well regions are thinner and hence absorb less strongly than bulk material. We predict detailed balance efficiency limits for varying levels of absorptivity in singleand double-junction quantum-well solar cells. These calculations allow us to...

An extensive database of spectroscopic properties of molecules from ab initio calculations is used to design molecular complexes for use in tandem solar cells that convert two photons into a single electron-hole pair, thereby increasing the output voltage while covering a wider spectral range. Three different architectures are considered: the first two involve a complex consisting of two dye mo...