Development of novel high-efficiency silicon-based solar cells based on quantum nanostructure

Yasuyoshi Kurokawa

Assistant professor, Graduate school of science and engineering, Tokyo institute of technology

Abstract

Silicon is the second most abundant element and one of the most promising photo-generated materials for solar cells. To realize stacked silicon-based solar cells with more than 30%-efficiency, the bandgap of the top cell's material has to be tuned around 1.7 eV. In this project, quantum confinement structure with silicon nanowires (SiNWs) will be developed to obtain a novel material with the bandgap of 1.7 eV. To improve the quality of SiNWs, surface passivation technique will be applied. Moreover, the efficient structure of SiNW solar cells will be designed by a device simulator taking into account the quantum effect.