Optical waveguide enhanced photovoltaics

Sven Rühle, Shlomit Greenwald, Elad Koren, Arie Zaban

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    26 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Enhanced light to electric power conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells with a low absorbance was achieved using waveguide integration. We present a proof of concept using a very thin dye-sensitized solar cell which absorbed only a small fraction of the light at normal incidence. The glass substrate in conjunction with the solar cells reflecting back contact formed a planar waveguide, which lead to more than four times higher conversion efficiency compared to conventional illumination at normal incidence. This illumination concept leads to a new type of multi-junction PV systems based on enforced spectral splitting along the waveguide.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)21801-21806
    Number of pages6
    JournalOptics Express
    Volume16
    Issue number26
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 22 Dec 2008

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