Luminescent Spectral Splitting: A New Approach Toward Constructing High-Efficiency Solar Cells

Abstract

We consider an approach, which we call luminescent spectrum splitting (LSS), for efficiently dividing solar radiation into several spatially divided spectral components. These spectral components separately illuminate photovoltaic cells of different band gaps using a simple optical design that is easy to manufacture and easily extensible to an arbitrarily large number of spectral channels. Because of this extensibility, the number of junctions in the system is limited only by the availability of photovoltaic cells with appropriate band gaps. As a result, significantly high system efficiencies should be accessible. In our analysis of this concept, we find that optical quantum efficiencies as high as 95 percent can be achieved.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2010
Accession Number
AD1124239

Entities

People

  • Brent Fisher
  • John Biddle

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Advanced Materials
  • Band Gaps
  • Cells
  • Composite Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Efficiency
  • Energy
  • Energy Bands
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Optical Properties
  • Quantum Dots
  • Quantum Efficiency
  • Quantum Yields
  • Refractive Index
  • Semiconductors
  • Solar Cells
  • Solar Energy
  • Solar Spectrum

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Quantum Computing