Improved Separation and Collection of Charge Carriers in Micro-Pyramidal-Structured Silicon/PEDOT:PSS Hybrid Solar Cells

Yuuki Sugano,Kenji Hirakuri,Keisuke Sato,Naoki Fukata

doi:10.3390/en10040420

Yuuki Sugano, Kenji Hirakuri + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en10040420

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Abstract

Silicon (Si)/organic polymer hybrid solar cells have great potential for becoming cost-effective and efficient energy-harvesting devices. We report herein on the effects of polymer coverage and the rear electrode on the device performance of Si/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hybrid solar cells with micro-pyramidal structures. These hybrid solar cells provided adequate generation of charge carriers owing to the suppression of reflectance to below 13%. Additionally, the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers at the micro-pyramidal-structured Si/PEDOT:PSS interface regions and their collection at the electrodes were dramatically improved by tuning the adhesion areas of the PEDOT:PSS layer and the rear electrode materials, thereby attaining a power conversion efficiency of 8.25%. These findings suggest that it is important to control the PEDOT:PSS coverage and to optimize the rear electrode materials in order to achieve highly efficient separation of the charge carriers and their effective collection in micro-textured hybrid solar cells.

Highlights

Photovoltaic cells have attracted attention as a useful renewable energy technology over the years because they can resolve some concerns such as the exhaustion of fossil fuels, global warming by the emission of greenhouse gases, and so on [1]
We investigated the effects of pyramidal structures and the molecular structure of (PEDOT):PSS coverage and the rear electrode on the photovoltaic performance of the hybrid solar cells
We demonstrated the effects of PEDOT:PSS coverage and the rear electrode on the photovoltaic performance of hybrid solar cells consisting of micro-pyramidal-structured Si/PEDOT:PSS composites

Summary

Introduction

Photovoltaic cells have attracted attention as a useful renewable energy technology over the years because they can resolve some concerns such as the exhaustion of fossil fuels, global warming by the emission of greenhouse gases, and so on [1]. To develop such cells and enhance their commercial usage, the selection of materials is of crucial importance. The cost of solar cells is approximately three times higher than that of fossil fuels [5]. This high cost has relevance to the expense of cell fabrication

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