EFFICIENT HARVESTING OF SOLAR ENERGY USING QUANTUM-DOT LUMINESCENT SOLAR CONCENTRATORS

摘要

Semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as colloidal quantum dots (QDs) offer a unique combination of size-tunable optical and electronic properties, and amenability toward solution-based processing. As a result, this versatile class of materials is being used in a rapidly expanding range of technological applications, most notably in light-emitting diodes, photodetectors4 and solar photovoltaics (PVs). Indeed, advancements in solar cells based on QDs has been particularly rapid: since the first certification of such a device four years ago, efficiencies have nearly tripled. Whether in thin-film or sensitized titania architectures, 8 PVs use QDs as broadband, photostable absorbers where charge-carriers are generated and separated. More recently, attention has turned to exploration of alternative roles for QDs in solar energy capture that take advantage of their high emission quantum yields (QYs), such as in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs).