Achieving optimal balance: tuning electrical and optical characteristics of carbon electrodes for emerging photovoltaics.

Transparent and conductive electrodes (TCEs) are essential for various optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications, but they often require expensive and complex fabrication methods. In this paper, a unique low-cost, eco-friendly, and scalable method of fabricating TCEs using spray-coated carbon ink is investigated. Firstly the carbon particles used for this process underwent a size reduction from 20 microns to 0.

Optical optimization of double-side-textured monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells for improved light management.

Tandem configuration-containing perovskite and silicon solar cells are promising candidates for realizing a high power conversion efficiency of 30% at reasonable costs. Silicon solar cells with planar front surfaces used in tandem devices cause high optical losses, which significantly affects their efficiency. Moreover, some studies have explored the fabrication of perovskites on textured silicon cells.

Correction: Efficient broadband light absorption in thin-film a-Si solar cell based on double sided hybrid bi-metallic nanogratings.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10232A.].

Efficient broadband light absorption in thin-film a-Si solar cell based on double sided hybrid bi-metallic nanogratings.

Thin film solar cells (TFSCs) suffer from poor light absorption due to their small thickness, which limits most of their practical applications. Surface plasmons generated by plasmonic nanoparticles offer an opportunity for a low-cost and scalable method to optically engineer TFSCs. Here, a systematic simulation study is conducted to improve the absorption efficiency of amorphous silicon (a-Si) by incorporating double sided plasmonic bi-metallic (Al-Cu) nanogratings.

Super absorption of solar energy using a plasmonic nanoparticle based CdTe solar cell.

Improving the photon absorption in thin-film solar cells with plasmonic nanoparticles is essential for the realization of extremely efficient cells with substantial cost reduction. Here, a comprehensive study of solar energy enhancement in a cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cell based on the simple design of a square array of plasmonic titanium nanoparticles, has been reported. The excitation of localized plasmons in the metallic nanostructures together with the antireflection coating (ARC) significantly enhances the absorption of photons in the active CdTe layer.