What is Up and Down-conversion for Solar Cells?
Up-conversion is the process by which two or more low energy (long wavelength) photons, which are transmitted by the photovoltaic cell, are converted into one high energy photon. The up converted photon has sufficient energy to bridge the solar cell band gap and can be absorbed. Down-conversion is the process by which one high energy photon, which is inefficiently absorbed by the photovoltaic cell due to thermalisation losses, is converted into two or more lower energy photons. These photons all have sufficient energy to be absorbed by the photovoltaic cell, with negligible thermalisation loss.
Up and down-conversion material is fabricated in layers which are independent of the photovoltaic cell. Therefore the optimised electrical properties of the cell are maintained. The up-conversion layer lies between the photovoltaic material and the back reflector, whereas the down-conversion layer lies on top of the photovoltaic material.
What are the challenges for Up and Down-conversion?
A significant challenge for up-conversion is that it is a non-linear optical process. This means that a very high intensity of incident light is required to produce only a small intensity of up-converted light. Furthermore, developing stable materials that exhibit high photon conversion efficiency is required.
The development of down conversion materials that exhibit the required energy conversion is the first challenge to be overcome. Once achieved, the down conversion layer will sit on top of the photovoltaic material: therefore the down-conversion layer must not interact with the light from the sun that is normally absorbed. A further challenge of down-conversion is to limit the loss of down-converted photons from the top surface of the layer.
How are these challenges being addressed by SISER researchers?
Heriot Watt University is carrying out research into the enhancement of up- and down-conversion layers for photovoltaic applications. Their work is based on the use of rare earth ions, which have been shown to be ideal candidates for the up-conversion process: they have luminescent properties that cover the required energy range (UV, visible and near-IR) and these properties are fairly invariant to the host material in which they are placed. Their current work is based on finding ways to control the propagation and interaction of light through these layers, to enhance the conversion. Heriot Watt University is working alongside the Fujian Institute of Research in the Structure of Matter, who are developing new luminescent materials for up and down-conversion.
SISER researchers with interest in this area are:
Full details of all SISER researchers are found on the SISER People Page.
Publications
Aruna Ivaturi, Sean K W MacDougall, Rosa Martin-Rodriguez, Marta Quintanilla, Jose Marques-Hueso, Karl W Kraemer, Andries Meijerink and Bryce S Richards. Optimizing infrared to near infrared upconversion quantum yield of beta-NaYF4:Er3+ in fluoropolymer matrix for photovoltaic devices. Journal of Applied Physics 114(1), 2013. Hang Lin, Jose Marques-Hueso, Daqin Chen, Yuansheng Wang and Bryce S Richards. Tm3+-sensitized up- and down-conversions in nano-structured oxyfluoride glass ceramics. Materials Research Bulletin 47(12):4433-4437, 2012. R Wehrspohn and A Gombert (eds.). Broadband excitation of upconversion in lanthanide doped fluorides for enhancement of Si solar cells. Proceedings of SPIE series, volume 8438, 2012. Sean K W MacDougall, Ivaturi Aruna, Jose Marques-Hueso, Karl W Kraemer and Bryce S Richards. Ultra-high photoluminescent quantum yield of beta-NaYF4: 10% Er3+ via broadband excitation of upconversion for photovoltaic devices. Optics Express 20(23):A879-A887, 2012. L Tsakalakos (ed.). Advances in Spectral Conversion for Photovoltaics: Up-converting Er3+ Doped YF3 Nano-crystals in Transparent Glass Ceramic. Proceedings of SPIE series, volume 8111, 2011. Rosa Martin-Rodriguez, Stefan Fischer, Aruna Ivaturi, Benjamin Froehlich, Karl W Kraemer, Jan C Goldschmidt, Bryce S Richards and Andries Meijerink. Highly Efficient IR to NIR Upconversion in Gd2O2S: Er3+ for Photovoltaic Applications. Chemistry of Materials 25(9):1912-1921, 2013. Paolo Pizzol, Jose Marques-Hueso, Neil Robertson, Isidora Freris, Luca Bellotto, Thomas J J Meyer and Bryce S Richards. Optical properties of lanthanide dyes for spectral conversion encapsulated in porous silica nanoparticles. In Conference on Photonics for Solar Energy Systems IV 8438. 2012. B S Richards. Enhancing the performance of silicon solar cells via the application of passive luminescence conversion layers. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 90(15):2329-2337, 2006. B S Richards. Luminescent layers for enhanced silicon solar cell performance: Down-conversion. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 90(9):1189-1207, 2006. R Wehrspohn and A Gombert (eds.). Up- and Down-Conversion Materials for Photovoltaic Devices. Proceedings of SPIE series, volume 8438, 2012. B S Richards and A Shalav. The role of polymers in the luminescence conversion of sunlight for enhanced solar cell performance. Synthetic Metals 154(1-3):61-64, 2005. Bryce S Richards and Avi Shalav. Enhancing the near-infrared spectral response of silicon optoelectronic devices via up-conversion. Ieee Transactions on Electron Devices 54(10):2679-2684, 2007. A Shalav, B S Richards and M A Green. Luminescent layers for enhanced silicon solar cell performance: Up-conversion. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 91(9):829-842, 2007. A Shalav, B S Richards, K Kramer, H Gudel and Ieee. Improvements of an up-conversion NaYF4 : Er3+ phosphor/silicon solar cell system for an enhanced response in the near-infrared. Ieee Photovoltaic Specialists Conference series, pages 114-117, 2005. A Shalav, B S Richards, T Trupke, R P Corkish, K W Kramer, H U Gudel and M A Green. The application of up-converting phosphors for increased solar cell conversion efficiencies. Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Vols a-C series, 2003. A Shalav, B S Richards, T Trupke, K W Kramer and H U Gudel. Application of NaYF4 : Er3+ up-converting phosphors for enhanced near-infrared silicon solar cell response. Applied Physics Letters 86(1), 2005. T Trupke, A Shalav, B S Richards, P Wuerfel and M A Green. Efficiency enhancement of solar cells by luminescent up-conversion of sunlight. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 90(18-19):3327-3338, 2006.
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BibTeX@article{Tm3+-sensitized up- and down-conversions in nano-structured oxyfluoride glass ceramics,
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BibTeX@article{Highly Efficient IR to NIR Upconversion in Gd2O2S: Er3+ for Photovoltaic Applications,
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BibTeX@article{Enhancing the performance of silicon solar cells via the application of passive luminescence conversion layers,
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BibTeX@article{The role of polymers in the luminescence conversion of sunlight for enhanced solar cell performance,
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BibTeX@article{Enhancing the near-infrared spectral response of silicon optoelectronic devices via up-conversion,
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BibTeX@article{Luminescent layers for enhanced silicon solar cell performance: Up-conversion,
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BibTeX@article{Efficiency enhancement of solar cells by luminescent up-conversion of sunlight,
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