We investigated cyanine heterojunction photovoltaic devices using carbocyanine dyes as donors and buckminsterfullerene (C60) as acceptor. In particular, we focused on the influence of cyanine counterions on the photovoltaic device characteristics. It was found that counterions can be displaced in the applied electric field and give rise to important hystereses in the current-voltage characteris...

Solar cells and photodetectors are devices that convert an optical input into current. A solar cell is an example of a photovoltaic device, i.e, a device that generates voltage when exposed to light. The photovoltaic effect was discovered by Alexander-Edmond Becquerel in 1839, in a junction formed between an electrode (platinum) and an electrolyte (silver chloride). The first photovoltaic devic...

Light-driven degradation of photoactive molecules could be one of the major obstacles to stable long term operation of organic dye-based solar light harvesting devices. One solution to this problem may be mimicking the regeneration functionality of a plant leaf. We report an organic dye photovoltaic system that has been endowed with such microfluidic regeneration functionality. A hydrogel mediu...

Multipolymer photovoltaics, single layer devices made up of multiple photoactive polymers, can create organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with a wider spectral response than single polymer systems without the difficult fabrication of a tandem. Our group has successfully created multipolymer solar devices with 2% power conversion efficiency. We have analyzed the optical and electrical properties of the...

The optimal hybridization of photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric (TE) devices has long been considered ideal for the efficient harnessing solar energy. Our hybrid approach uses full spectrum solar energy via lossless coupling between PV and TE devices while collecting waste energy from thermalization and transmission losses from PV devices. Achieving lossless coupling makes the power output fr...

We report the design and synthesis of an oligothiophene molecule that noncovalently functionalizes carbon nanotubes to create a hybrid material for photovoltaic devices.

Similarities and di erences between semiconductor-based photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices for solar energy conversion are brie*y reviewed. ? 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

We report chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) synthesis of high-density lead sulfide (PbS) nanowire arrays and nano pine trees directly on Ti thin films, and the fabrication of photovoltaic devices based upon the PbS nanowires. The as-grown nanowire arrays are largely vertically aligned to the substrates and are uniformly distributed over a relatively large area. Field effect transistors incorporat...

E. M. Tennyson, Prof. M. S. Leite Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 , USA E-mail: [email protected] E. M. Tennyson, J. L. Garrett, Prof. J. N. Munday, Prof. M. S. Leite Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 , USA J. L. Garrett Department of Physics University of Maryland Co...

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) has been recognized as a promising photovoltaic material for thin-film solar cells because of its near optimum bandgap of ~1.5 eV and high absorption coefficient. The energy gap is near optimum for a single junction solar cell and the high absorption coefficient allows films as thin as 2 μm to absorb more than 98% of the above-bandgap radiation. Cells with efficiencies ...