TY - JOUR
T1 - Carrier transport and working mechanism of transparent photovoltaic cells
AU - Patel, Malkeshkumar
AU - Song, Jungeun
AU - Kim, Dong Wook
AU - Kim, Joondong
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Basic Science Research Program through theNational Research Foundation (NRF-2020R1A2C1009480, 2020R1I1A1A01068573, and 2019R1A4A1029052) by the Ministry of Education of Korea and Brain Pool Program funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF-2020H1D3A2A02085884).
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation (NRF- 2020R1A2C1009480 , 2020R1I1A1A01068573 , and 2019R1A4A1029052 ) by the Ministry of Education of Korea and Brain Pool Program funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF- 2020H1D3A2A02085884 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Transparent photovoltaics (TPVs) enable transparency in visible regime with the conversion of light into electrical energy. TPVs can be used to replace conventional dark solar cells in parts of buildings and vehicles to enable onsite power generation. For commercial applications, the goal is to ensure human visibility through TPVs while harvesting the maximum output power. However, these two goals are in conflict, and resolving this is a challenging task. Here, we examine TPV devices (TPVDs) using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) to reveal optoelectronic processes and decisive factors for high-performance devices. TPVDs are based on hybrid heterostructures of metal-oxides with metal-nanowires that possess a high-visible transmittance (63%) with large-area devices. The KPFM studies on ZnO/NiO TPVDs provide evidence of band-to-band photovoltage and defect-mediated photoexcitation at the UV and visible regimes, respectively, which strongly suggests further TPV enhancements can be achieved. Extensive investigation on TPV features was given for light absorption, carrier movement and optical transmittance. Furthermore, this study demonstrates onsite power production using a TPV array, which supplies the electric power to a DC motor (1.5 mW) at a power conversion efficiency of 4.725%. Due to their inherent transparency, TPVs can be applied in windows as on-demand invisible power generators.
AB - Transparent photovoltaics (TPVs) enable transparency in visible regime with the conversion of light into electrical energy. TPVs can be used to replace conventional dark solar cells in parts of buildings and vehicles to enable onsite power generation. For commercial applications, the goal is to ensure human visibility through TPVs while harvesting the maximum output power. However, these two goals are in conflict, and resolving this is a challenging task. Here, we examine TPV devices (TPVDs) using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) to reveal optoelectronic processes and decisive factors for high-performance devices. TPVDs are based on hybrid heterostructures of metal-oxides with metal-nanowires that possess a high-visible transmittance (63%) with large-area devices. The KPFM studies on ZnO/NiO TPVDs provide evidence of band-to-band photovoltage and defect-mediated photoexcitation at the UV and visible regimes, respectively, which strongly suggests further TPV enhancements can be achieved. Extensive investigation on TPV features was given for light absorption, carrier movement and optical transmittance. Furthermore, this study demonstrates onsite power production using a TPV array, which supplies the electric power to a DC motor (1.5 mW) at a power conversion efficiency of 4.725%. Due to their inherent transparency, TPVs can be applied in windows as on-demand invisible power generators.
KW - Defect-mediated photovoltage
KW - Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM)
KW - Metal-oxides
KW - Onsite power production
KW - Transparent photovoltaics (TPVs)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122029973&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apmt.2021.101344
DO - 10.1016/j.apmt.2021.101344
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122029973
SN - 2352-9407
VL - 26
JO - Applied Materials Today
JF - Applied Materials Today
M1 - 101344
ER -