Realization of high-efficiency energy conversion in solar cells using photon up-conversion

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K14792
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 21060:Electron device and electronic equipment-related
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Asahi Shigeo 神戸大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (60782729)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 太陽電池 / ガリウムヒ素 / 量子ドット

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have proposed high-efficiency solar cells called two-step photon up-conversion solar cells that utilize intra-band transitions for up-conversion. We have demonstrated up-conversion with an efficiency over 100 times higher than that of previous similar types of solar cells. However, to contribute to enhancing the overall efficiency of the solar cell through the up-conversion phenomenon, further improvement in up-conversion efficiency is necessary. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to further increase the efficiency by a factor of 10 through modulation doping and optimization of quantum dot positioning. As a result, we achieved an approximately three-fold improvement through modulation doping and an approximately four-fold improvement through the optimization of quantum dot positioning, resulting in a total improvement of over ten times.

Free Research Field

電子デバイス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、我々が提案する超高効率太陽電池、TPU-SC高効率化の要である、アップコンバージョン効率の向上に成功した。今後は、得られた効率的なアップコンバージョンを利用して、変換効率向上に寄与することを目指す。将来的には50%を越える高効率太陽電池を実現し、再生可能エネルギーの普及率向上、ひいては地球温暖化問題への解決に貢献することが可能である。