Breakthrough to Non-Vacuum Deposition of Single-Crystal, Ultra-Thin, Homogeneous Nanoparticle Layers: A Better Alternative to Chemical Bath Deposition and Atomic Layer Deposition.

Most thin-film techniques require a multiple vacuum process, and cannot produce high-coverage continuous thin films with the thickness of a few nanometers on rough surfaces. We present a new "paradigm shift" non-vacuum process to deposit high-quality, ultra-thin, single-crystal layers of coalesced sulfide nanoparticles (NPs) with controllable thickness down to a few nanometers, based on thermal decomposition. This provides high-coverage, homogeneous thickness, and large-area deposition over a rough surface, with little material loss or liquid chemical waste, and deposition rates of 10 nm/min. This technique can potentially replace conventional thin-film deposition methods, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical bath deposition (CBD) as used by the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cell industry for decades. We demonstrate 32% improvement of CIGS thin-film solar cell efficiency in comparison to reference devices prepared by conventional CBD deposition method by depositing the ZnS NPs buffer layer using the new process. The new ZnS NPs layer allows reduction of an intrinsic ZnO layer, which can lead to severe shunt leakage in case of a CBD buffer layer. This leads to a 65% relative efficiency increase.

Realizing omnidirectional light harvesting by employing hierarchical architecture for dye sensitized solar cells.

To improve the omnidirectional light-harvesting in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), here we present a dandelion-like structure composed of ZnO hemispherical shells and nanorods. Uniformly distributed hemispherical shells effectively suppress the reflection over the broadband region at incident angles up to 60°, greatly improving the optical absorption of the DSSCs. In addition, modulating the length of the ZnO nanorods controls the omnidirectional characteristics of DSSCs. This phenomenon is attributed to the degree of periodicity of the ZnO dandelion-like structures. Cells with shorter rods exhibit a high degree of periodicity, thus the conversion efficiencies of the cells show specific angle-independent features. On the other hand, the cells with longer lengths reveal angle-dependent photovoltaic performance. Along with the simulation, the cells with dandelion-like ZnO structures can couple incident photons efficiently to achieve excellent broadband and omnidirectional light-harvesting performances experimentally, and the DSSCs enhanced the conversion efficiency by 48% at large incident angles. All these findings not only provide further insight into the light-trapping mechanism in these complex three-dimensional nanostructures but also offer efficient omnidirectional and broadband nanostructured photovoltaics for advanced applications.

Efficiency enhancement in Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells with subwavelength grating nanostructures.

In the article, a study of sub-wavelength grating (SWG) nanostructures for broadband and omni-directional anti-reflection coatings (ARCs) on Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cells using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method is presented. Various SWG nanostructures of different shapes and periodic geometry on CZTS solar cells are discussed in detail. The optimized reflectance decreased to 1.67%, and efficiency increased to 13.74%, accordingly. The omni-directional and broadband antireflections of the SWG nanostructures are also investigated. Under a simulated 1-sun condition and with the light incident angle increased to 80°, cells with SWG nanostructures enhanced the short-circuit current density by 16.5%. This considerable enhancement in light harvesting is attributed to the linearly graded effective refractive index profile from the air to the device surface.

Flexible-textured polydimethylsiloxane antireflection structure for enhancing omnidirectional photovoltaic performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells.

Because of the Sun's movement across the sky, broadband and omnidirectional light harvesting is a major development in photovoltaic technology. This study reports the fabrication and characterization of flexible-textured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells, which is one of the simplest and cheapest peel-off processes for fabricating a three-dimensional structure. A cell containing a textured PDMS film enhanced the short-circuit current density from 22.12 to 23.93 mA/cm2 in a simulated one-sun scenario. The omnidirectional antireflection of CIGS solar cells containing various PDMS films is also investigated. This study uses an angle-resolved reflectance spectroscope to investigate the omnidirectional and broadband optical properties of the proposed PDMS film. This improvement in light harvesting is attributable to the scattering of the PDMS film and the gradual refractive index profile between the PDMS microstructures and air. The flexible-textured PDMS film is suitable for creating an antireflective coating for a diverse range of photovoltaic devices.

Dandelion-shaped nanostructures for enhancing omnidirectional photovoltaic performance.

Broadband and omnidirectional light harvesting is important in photovoltaic technology because of its wide spectral range of radiation and the sun's movement. This study reports the fabrication and characterization of zinc oxide (ZnO) dandelions on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells. The fabrication of dandelions involves the combination of self-assembled polystyrene (PS) nanospheres and the hydrothermal method, which is one of the simplest and cheapest methods of fabricating a three-dimensional, closely packed periodic structure. This study also investigates the optimization on dimension of the PS nanospheres using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method. This study uses an angle-resolved reflectance spectroscope and a homemade rotatable photo I-V measurement to investigate the omnidirectional and broadband antireflections of the proposed dandelion structure. Under a simulated one-sun condition and a light incident angle of up to 60°, cells with ZnO dandelions arrays enhanced the short-circuit current density by 31.87%. Consequently, ZnO dandelions are suitable for creating an omnidirectionally antireflective coating for photovoltaic devices.

Enhanced broadband and omnidirectional performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with ZnO functional nanotree arrays.

An effective approach is demonstrated for enhancing photoelectric conversion of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells with three-dimensional ZnO nanotree arrays. Under a simulated one-sun condition, cells with ZnO nanotree arrays enhance the short-circuit current density by 10.62%. The omnidirectional anti-reflection of CIGS solar cells with various ZnO nanostructures is also investigated. The solar-spectrum weighted reflectance is approximately less than 5% for incident angles of up to 60° and for the wavelengths primarily from 400 nm to 1000 nm. This enhancement in light harvesting is attributable to the gradual refractive index profile between the ZnO nanostructures and air.