Enhancing the power conversion efficiency of solar cells employing down-shifting silicon quantum dots

Abstract

We report the synthesis and characterization of silicon quantum dots that exhibit down-shifting, photo luminescent characteristics. We also discuss the fabrication and characterization of single crystal Silicon (c-Si) Solar cells with and without the influence of the previously mentioned QDs. The incorporation of these nanostructures triggers improvements in the performance of the fabricated photovoltaic devices, especially in the open circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current density (Jsc). Specifically, the experimental results showed increments in the Voc from 532.6 to 536.2 mV and in the Jsc from 33.4 to 38.3 mA/cm2. The combined effect of those improved Voc and Jsc values led to an increment in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 11.90 to 13.37%. This increment represents an improvement of the order of 12.4% on the power conversion efficiency of this type of solar cells. The observed results could be conducive to promoting the proliferation of photovoltaic structures.