PRESENTATION ON

INTERMEDIATE BAND QUANTUM DOT SOLAR CELL

Presented to:

Presented by:

Mr. Rajesh Kanwadia Ms. Shweta Agarwal (Sr. Lecturer, Seminar Incharge)

VINEET KUMAR Electronics & communication Engg. B.Tech IV Year(VIIIth Sem)

Photovoltaic Conventional solar cell Introduction Working Limitations Energy bands in solids Intermediate band solar cell Quantum dot Intermediate band quantum dot solar cell Introduction Construction Working Advantages Applications Limitations

Generations of voltage from

photons

Light energy ( photons) are converted into electrical energy ( voltage).

This conversion is called

photovoltaic effect.

First generation: silicon waferbased solar cells

Second generation: thin-film

deposits of semiconductors

Third generation: photoelectrochemical cells

The solar cell (or photovoltaic cell) is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. Fundamentally, the device needs to fulfill only two functions: 1. Photo-generation of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a light-absorbing material. 2. Separation of the charge carriers to a conductive contact that will transmit the electricity.

The intermediate band (IB) is an electronic band located within the semiconductor band gap, separated from the conduction and the valence band by a null density of states. Intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) are photovoltaic devices. Used to exploit the energy of below band gap energy photons.

Only radiation recombination

One electron-hole pair per photon Constant quasi-Fermi levels

No high energy photons in low energy processes

Maximum concentration of solar radiation

Higher photocurrent
Higher efficiency arising from absorption of 2 sub-band gap photons to create one electron-hole pair.

High voltage
V=(EFCB - EFVB)/q V~Eg for main semiconductor

Essential for operation

3 quasi-Fermi levels IB disconnected from emitters Need IB half-filled with electrons Non-overlapping absorption coefficients

Answer Introduce Quantum Dots

A quantum dot is a portion of matter (e.g., semiconductor) whose excitons are confined in all three spatial dimensions. Quantum dots have properties combined between

Those of bulk semiconductors

Those of atoms

The structure is as follow :

Incoming photons to base layer can cause three different transitions between valance band (VB), conduction band (CB) and IB depending on their energy: VBCB, if the photon energy is greater then ECV. VBIB, if the photon energy is greater then EVI IBCB, if the photon energy is greater then ECI.

Dot sized shape, composition

Dot spacing Dot regularity Materials Doping

Higher Efficiency. Balance between the two factors

(I) Cost
(II) Efficiency

Photovoltaic devices: solar cells

Light emitting diodes: LEDs

Quantum computation

Flat-panel displays
Memory elements Photodetectors Lasers

Low open-circuit voltage Low currents Cost

QD SL cells show photo responses extended to longer wavelengths than GaAs control cells, demonstrating current generation from the absorption of sub-band gap photons.
IBSC theoretically offers a way to significantly increase cell efficiency compared to that of a single-junction solar cell.