Recent Progress in Intermediate Band Solar Cells

Abstract

It is known that solar cells with high current, based on materials of low band gap, present low voltages and vice-versa. Intermediate band (IB) solar cells have been proposed as a means of increasing the current of solar cells without a substantial decrease of the voltage. The present status of the research on this topic is presented. IB materials and the related solar cells have been manufactured using quantum dots. The basic principles of the IB solar cell have been proved on the basis of these test structures. An accurate modelling of the behaviour of the IB-QD solar cells is presented. Bulk intermediate band materials are also sought using very precise band calculations. Thermodynamic stability of recommended compounds is considered. The extent to which this might lead to non-radiative recombination is also assessed