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Use of Nanotechnology in Solar PV Cell

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DOI: 10.7763/IJCEA.2011.V2.79

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 International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2011

Use of Nanotechnology in Solar PV Cell

Dr.V.K.Sethi, Dr. Mukesh Pandey, and Ms. Priti Shukla*

holes need to travel over a much shorter path and thus

Abstract— The solar cell industry has grown quickly in recombination losses are greatly reduced. As a result, the
recent years due to strong interest in renewable energy and the absorber layer thickness in nano-structured solar cells can be
problem of global climate change .Cost is an important factor in as thin as 150 nm instead of several micrometers in the
the success of any solar technology. Today’s solar cells are
simply not enough efficient and are too expensive to
traditional thin film solar cells. Third, the energy band gap of
manufacture for large-scale electricity generation. However, various layers can be made to the desired design value by
potential advancements in nanotechnology may open the door varying the size of nano particles. This allows for more
to the production of cheaper and slightly more efficient solar design flexibility in the absorber of solar cells.
cells. Nanotechnology has already shown huge breakthroughs Thin film is a more cost-effective solution and uses a cheap
in the solar field. Quantum dots have the potential to change the support onto which the activecomponent is applied as a thin
world. They are a form of solar cell that is completely beyoznd
anything you might imagine. Nanotechnology might be able to
coating. As a result much less material is required (as low as
increase the efficiency of solar cells, but the most promising 1% compared with wafers) and costs are decreased. Most
application of nanotechnology is the reduction of such cells utilize amorphous silicon, which, as its name
manufacturing cost. PVs based on CdTe, CuInGaSe (CIGS), suggests, does not have a crystalline structure and
CuInSe (CIS), and organic materials are being developed with consequently has a much lower efficiency (8%), however it is
the aim of reducing the price per watt even if that means much cheaper to manufacture .
sacrificing conversion efficiency and reliability. Utilizing
Comparison of different photovoltaic cell shown in table
nanotechnology in inexpensive solar cell would help to preserve
the environment. -1
Index Terms— Nanotechnology, Quantum dots,
Breakthroughs
II. NANOTECHNOLOGY BOOSTS SOLAR CELLS
PERFORMANCE
I. INTRODUCTION
Current solar cells cannot convert all the incoming light
Conventional solar cells have two main drawbacks: into usable energy because some of the light can escape back
efficiencies and their expensive manufacturing cost. The first out of the cell into the air. Additionally, sunlight comes in a
drawback, inefficiency, is almost unavoidable with silicon variety of colors and the cell might be more efficient at
cells. This is because the incoming photons, or light, must converting bluish light while being less efficient at
have the right energy, called the band gap energy, to knock converting reddish light. See in Figure 1. Lower energy light
out an electron. If the photon has less energy than the band passes through the cell unused. Higher energy light does
gap energy then it will pass through. If it has more energy excite electrons to the conduction band, but any energy
than the band gap, then that extra energy will be wasted as beyond the band gap energy is lost as heat. If these excited
heat. These two effects alone account for the loss of around electrons aren’t captured and redirected, they will
70 percent of the radiation energy incident on the cell. spontaneously recombine with the created holes, and the
Nano particles are motes of matter tens of thousands of energy will be lost as heat or light.
times smaller than the width of a human hair. Because they're
so small, a large percentage of nano particles' atoms reside on
their surfaces rather than in their interiors. This means
surface interactions dominate nano particle behavior. And,
for this reason, they often have different characteristics and
properties than larger chunks of the same material. Figure 1. Visible Light Spectrum
Nano-structured layers in thin film solar cells offer three
important advantages. First, due to multiple reflections, the In conventional solar cells, ultraviolet light is either
effective optical path for absorption is much larger than the filtered out or absorbed by the silicon and converted into
actual film thickness. Second, light generated electrons and potentially damaging heat, not electricity. Ultraviolet light
could efficiently couple to correctly sized nanoparticles and
produce electricity. Integrating a high-quality film of silicon
Dr.V.K.Sethi HOD Energy, School of Energy Environment &
nanoparticles, 1 nanometer in size directly onto silicon solar
Management , U.I.T, R.G.P.V. Bhopal, India
Dr. Mukesh Pandey Professor, School of Energy Environment & cells improves power performance by 60 percent in the
Management , U.I.T, R.G.P.V. Bhopal, India ultraviolet range of the spectrum.
Ms. Priti Shukla * Assistant Professor, Technocrate Institute of In bulk material, the radius is much smaller than the
Technology, Bhopal, India Mobile no. 9893135065
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed, email: semiconductor crystal. But nanocrystal diameters are smaller
pritishukla_22@yahoomail.com than the Bohr radius. Because of this, the “continuous band”

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 International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2011

of electron energy levels no longer can be viewed as Escape route: Electrons created in a nanoparticle-based
continuous. The energy levels become discrete, and quantum solar cell have to follow a circuitous path (red line) to reach
confinement is seen to operate. The difference of a few an electrode. Many don't make it, lowering the efficiency of
atoms between two quantum dots alters the band gap these cells. Researchers at Notre Dame have used carbon
boundaries. Small nanocrystals absorb shorter wavelengths nanotubes to help the electrons reach the electrode,
or bluer light, whereas larger nanocrystals absorb longer improving efficiency.
wavelengths or redder light. Changing the shape of the dot Without the carbon nanotubes, electrons generated when
also changes the band gap energy level as shown in Figure 2. light is absorbed by titanium-oxide particles have to jump
from particle to particle to reach an electrode. Many never
make it out to generate an electrical current. The carbon
nanotubes "collect" the electrons and provide a more direct
route to the electrode, improving the efficiency of the solar
cells.
The CNTs provide better electron ballistic transport
property along its axis with high current density capacity on
the surface of the solar cell without much loss. The alignment
of the CNT with the polymer composites substrate give very
` high efficiency in photovoltaic conversion. The polymer
Figure 2. The relationship of size of quantum dot to the light absorbed
composites increase contact area for better charge transfer
To make the improved solar cells, the researchers began by and energy conversion. In this process, the efficiency of solar
first converting bulk silicon into discrete, nano-sized cell is about 50% at the laboratory scale. The optimum
particles. Depending on their size, the nanoparticles will efficiency was achieved with the aligned CNTs with poly 3 -
fluoresce in distinct colors. Nanoparticles of the desired size octyl thiophene (P3OT) based PV cell. P3OT has improved
were then dispersed in isopropyl alcohol and dispensed onto the property due to polymer - and nano tubes junctions within
the face of the solar cell. As the alcohol evaporated, a film of the polymer matrix. High electric field within the nano tube
closely packed nanoparticles was left firmly fastened to the splits the exciton to electrons and holes, and enables faster
solar cell. electron transfer with improved quantum efficiency of more
Solar cells coated with a film of 1 nanometer, blue than 50%.
luminescent particles showed a power enhancement of about A. Improving the Efficiency of Solar Cells by Using
60 percent in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum, but less Semiconductor Quantum Dots (QD)
than 3 percent in the visible range. Solar cells coated with
Another starting point for the increase of the conversion
2.85 nanometer, red particles showed an enhancement of
efficiency of solar cells is the use of semiconductor quantum
about 67 percent in the ultraviolet range, and about 10
dots (QD). By means of quantum dots, the band gaps can be
percent in the visible range of the spectrum.
Ultra thin films of highly mono dispersed luminescent Si adjusted specifically to convert also longer- wave light and
nanoparticles are directly integrated on polycrystalline Si thus increase the efficiency of the solar cells. These so called
solar cells. Films of 1 nm blue luminescent or 2.85 nm red quantum dot solar cells are, at present still subject, to basic
luminescent Si nanoparticles produce large voltage research. As material systems for QD solar cells,
enhancements with improved power performance of 60% in III/V-semiconductors and other material combinations such
the UV/blue range. In the visible, the enhancements are as Si/Ge or Si/Be Te/Se are considered. Potential advantages
~10% for the red and ~3% for the blue particles. of these Si/Ge QD solar cells are:
Another potential feature of these solar cells is that the 1) Higher light absorption in particular in the infrared
nanorods could be ‘tuned’ to absorb various wavelengths of spectral region,
light. This could significantly increase the efficiency of the 2) Compatibility with standard silicon solar cell production
solar cell because more of the incident light could be utilized (in contrast to III/V semiconductors),
Single-walled carbon nanotubes to a film made of 3) Increase of the photo current at higher temperatures,
titanium-dioxide nanoparticles, doubling the efficiency of 4) Improved radiation hardness compared with
converting ultraviolet light into electrons when compared conventional solar cells.
with the performance of the nanoparticles alone.

Figure 3. Escape route of electron Figure 4. Schematic structure of a Si/Ge QD solar cell with layers
Gequantum dots in the active layer of the Si solar cell substrate

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 International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2011

III. NANOTECHNOLOGY IMPROVE THE SOLAR CELL ever. Their Power Sheet cells contrast the current solar
Present available nanotechnology solar cells are not as technology systems by reducing the cost of production from
efficient as traditional ones, however their lower cost offsets $3 a watt to a mere 30 cents per watt. This makes, for the first
this. In the long term nanotechnology versions should both be time in history, solar power cheaper than burning coal.
lower cost and, using quantum dots, should be able to reach
higher efficiency levels than conventional ones.
To coat the nanoparticles with quantum dots--tiny
semiconductor crystals. Unlike conventional materials in
which one photon generates just one electron, quantum dots
have the potential to convert high-energy photons into
multiple electrons. Quantum dots work the same way, but
they produce three electrons for every photon of sunlight that
hits the dots. Electrons moves from the valance band into the
conduction band The dots also catch more spectrums of the
sunlight waves, thus increasing conversion efficiency to as
high as 65 percent. Another area in which quantum dots
Figure 6. Cost/Efficiency Tradeoff
could be used is by making so-called a hot carrier cells.
Typically the extra energy supplied by a photon is lost as heat, Photovoltaic devices are limited in their practical
but with a hot carrier cells the extra energy from the photons efficiencies governed by the thermodynamic limits and
result in higher-energy electrons which in turn leads to a production costs that involve tradeoffs in materials,
higher voltage. production processes, and PV device packaging. The Lewis
Group as a result of higher efficiency or lower production
provides a thorough illustration of the efficiency trends for
various PV devices materials such as crystalline silicon used
in semiconductors as well as the new approaches to thin film
PV including amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride (CdTe),
copper indium deselenide (CIS) and copper indium gallium
deselenide materials (CIGS). These thin film material could
offer substantial PV devices price reductions costs.
Figure 5. - a) Quantum-dot (QD)-enhanced solar-cell design concept. (b)
Current density-voltage curves for control and 5–20 layer enhanced cells V. APPLICATION OF NANOTECHNOLOGY USE SOLAR CELL
under one sun global air mass 1.5 (AM1.5g) light. These cells did not have
antireflective coating. InGaP: Indium gallium phosphide. GaAs: Gallium 1) Inexpensive solar cells, which would utilize
arsenide. nanotechnology, would help preserve the environment.
2) Coating existing roofing materials with its plastic
The transport of electrons across the particle network is photovoltaic cells which are inexpensive enough to
the major problem in achieving higher photo conversion cover a home’s entire roof with solar cells, then enough
efficiency in nanostructured electrode. Utilization of CNT energy could be captured to power almost the entire
network support to anchor light harvesting semiconductor house. If many houses did this then our dependence on
particles by assisting the electron transport to the collecting the electric grid (fossil fuels) would decrease and help to
electrode surface in DSSC. Charge injection from excited reduce pollution.
CdS into SWCNT excitation of CdS nanoparticle. When 3) Nanotechnology in solar cells would also have military
CNTS attached in Cdse & CdTe can induce charge transfer implications. The U.S. Army has already hired Konarka
process under visible light irradiation. The enhanced Technologies to help design a better way to power their
interconnectivity between the titanium dioxide particles and soldiers’ electrical devices. According to Daniel
the MWCNTs in the porous titanium dioxide film was McGahn, Konarka’s executive vice president, "A regular
concluded to be the cause of the improvement in short circuit field soldier carries 1.5 pounds of batteries now. A
current density. special operations has a longer time out, has to carry 140
pounds of to create inexpensive and reasonably efficient
solar equipment soldier, 60 to 70 pounds of which are
IV. COST REDUCTION BY NANO TECHNOLOGY batteries “If nanotechnology could be used cells, it
would greatly improve soldiers’ mobility.
Conventional crystalline silicon solar cell manufactured by
4) Inexpensive solar cells would also help provide
high of using a low temperature process similar to printing.
electricity for rural areas or third world countries. Since
Nanotechnology reduced installation costs achieved by
the electricity demand in these areas is not high, and the
producing flexible rolls temperature vacuum deposition
areas are so distantly spaced out, it is not practical to
process but nanotechnology . Reduced manufacturing costs
connect them to an electrical grid. However, this is an
as a result instead of rigid crystalline panels. Cells made from
ideal situation for solar energy.
semiconductor thin films will also have this characteristic
5) Cheap solar cell could be used for lighting, hot water,
Nanosolar company have successfully created a solar
medical devices, and even cooking . It would greatly
coating that is the most cost-efficient solar energy source

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 International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2011

improve the standard of living for millions, possibly cars with Plastic photovoltaic solar cells or making solar
even billions of people. cell windows could be generate the power and save the
6) Flexible, roller-processed solar cells have the potential fuels and also help to reduce the emission of carbon
to turn the sun's power into a clean, green, convenient gases.
source of energy Even though the efficiency of Plastic
photovoltaic solar cell is not very great, but covering
TABLE – 1 COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL
Mono- Poly- CdTe CIGS a-Si
Sub-Types Multi Junction
crystalline crystalline
Purity Purity low temperature captures large Amorpho GaAs/CIS
99.99999% 99.99999% sensitivity spectrum us Silicon a-Si/mc-Si
Description Crystalline silicon wafers
Semiconductor is deposited directly on glass
Module Efficiency High Low
Performance under Performance degrades with higher Up to 60% lower heat coefficient than crystalline silicon modules, making it a good
heat temperatures choice in hot climates.
Space required per Polycrystalline: 10m² - 30m²
kWp depending on cell spacing Glass-glass laminate ~ 25m²
Mono crystalline : > 8m²
Degradation Degradation Degradation
Direct or diffuse Direct or diffuse light Direct or diffuse light
light
Amount of Poly silicon: 8g/W CdTe : 0.22g/W
photovoltaic
material needed

Efficiency 15-20% 13 - 15% 10% 12% 7% 36%

(production )
Efficiency 25% 21% 16% 20% 10% 40%
(lab)

[6] M.W. Rowell (June 5, 2006). ‘Organic solar cells with carbon
nanotube network electrodes’. APPL PHYS LETT, 233506.
VI. CONCLUSION [7] B.J.Landi, R.P. Raffaelle , S.L.Castro , S.G.Bailey ,C.M.Evans
Nanotechnology (“nano”) incorporation into the films (May2005) ‘CdSe quantum dot single Wall carbon nanotube
complexes for polymeric solar cell’ Solar Energy Materials and Solar
shows special promise to both enhance efficiency of solar
Cells 87(1-4): 733-746.
energy conservation & reduce the manufacturing cost. [8] B.J.Landi , R.P. Raffaelle , S.L.Castro , S.G.Bailey (March 2005)
Although the nanotechnology is only capable of supplying ‘Single Wall carbon nanotube-polymer solar cell’ . Progree in
low power devices with sufficient energy, its implications on photovoltics: Research & Applications 13 (2): 165-172
[9] Greg P. Smestad,” The Basic Economics of Photovoltaics” Optical
society would still be tremendous. It efficiency by increasing Society of America 2008
the absorption efficiency of light as well as the overall [10] Harin S. Ullal,” Polycrystalline Thin-Film Photovoltaic Technologies:
radiation-to-electricity would help preserve the environment, Progress And Technical Issues” 19th European PV Solar Energy
Conference and Exhibition Paris , France June 7–11, 2004
decrease soldiers carrying loads, provide electricity for rural [11] Claudio Pelosi and Matteo Bosi.” Light concentration increases
areas, and have a wide array of commercial applications due solar-cell efficiency and reduces cost “,17 May 2007, SPIE Newsroom.
to its wireless capabilities DOI: 10.1117/2.1200704.0689

REFERENCES
[1] Nayfeh, “Thin film silicon nanoparticle UV photodetector” IEEE Priti Shukla is born in Unnao on 22 June 1967. She
Photonics Technology, Volume 16, Issue 8, Pages 1927-1929, August completed her undergraduation from Gcvernment
2004 College of Engineering & Technology, Raipur,
[2] Nayfeh, “Enhancement of polycrystalline silicon solar cells using India, in 1988 and stood first in order of merit and
ultrathin films of silicon nanoparticle” Applied Physics, Volume 91, received Gold medal in Metallurgy.She completed
Issue 6, Article 063107, August 6, 2007. her post graduation from M.A.N.I.T. Bhopal, India
[3] Aldous, Scott. “How Solar Cells Work.” How Stuff Works. 22 May in Energy.
2005.<http://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-cell1.htm>. She has 7 years Industrial experience and 9 years
[4] K.R. Catchpole and A. Polman “Plasmonic Solar Cells,", Optics Teaching experience. Now she is working as
Express, Vol. 16, Issue 6, December 22, 2008, Focus Issue on Solar Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department Chemistry in
Energy edited by Alan Kost, University of Arizona. Technocrates Institute of Technology Bhopal, India . Priti Shukla has two
[5] M. Topinka ‘Carbon nanotube electrodes for solar cells’. SPRC international publications of research paper .
Workshop: Solar Cell Technology Options: Paths to Lower $ per Watt,
Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. (Feb. 24, 2007

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