‘Solar sandwich’ of old, new solar cells could unlock next-level power

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A new type of solar cell made using selenium and silicon could offer a cost advantage while also delivering energy conversion efficiency.

Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark may have found a simple solution to cracking the puzzle regarding solar cell efficiency. By mixing older solar technology with the new one, the team produced a tandem solar cell that would be easy to produce and help breach the limits of what solar cells can currently do.

An alternate approach of using tandem cells, where solar cells have two layers of photovoltaic material that can increase the wavelengths that can be absorbed and converted into electricity, is also being explored. However, this approach also faces problems of increased costs when using different types of material. It needs a solution that can deliver increased efficiency and minimized costs.

The researchers made a solar sandwich or a solar cell containing selenium as the top layer while the silicon component occupied the bottom. Selenium can act as a wide bandgap photo absorber, meaning it can absorb multiple wavelengths of sunlight to make electricity, making it more versatile than silicon.

 

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