Multijunction and Intermediated-Band Solar Cells for a Higher-Efficiency Solar Conversion: Nanomaterials and Structural Approaches

Dear Colleagues,

Third-generation solar cells are being widely investigated today as a main route toward high-efficiency photovoltaics for exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit. The best energy conversion efficiency often requires manufacturing multi-junction solar cells (MJSC) combining materials’ lattice constant with bandgap energy. One proposed cell device design consists in adding a lattice-matched sub-cell tuned to a specific spectral range to a standard solar cell structure. Otherwise, the metamorphic embodiment is based on using layers of materials with different lattice constants linked by buffer layers. However, other operation principles to the photocurrent generation of increasing interest are based on two-step inter-sub-band absorption in an intermediate-band solar cell incorporating quantum dot superlattices. All of these approaches involve relatively high-cost solar technologies. However, advances achieved in concentration photovoltaics allow offsetting these high costs. Furthermore, MJSC architecture can also be transferred to other, less efficient solar cell technologies, such as CIGS, CdSe, silicon, perovskite, etc., which can offer a relevant cost-performance ratio.

Despite the intensive research carried out in recent years, these systems present inherent problems during the synthesis or the epitaxial growth, and better control of specimen distribution and unfavorable defects must be achieved to reach their ultimate performance. We aim to offer a general perspective of the main structural approaches to manufacturing high-efficiency solar cells, focusing on structure design, material selection, processing capabilities, and techniques to evaluate implementation problems.

Topics to be covered in this Special Issue:

This Special Issue is open to both original research articles and review papers. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Nanostructured systems and MBE growth approaches to minimize specimen segregation effects in the heterostructure interfaces;
• Dislocation blocking mechanisms during inactive graded buffer growth to strain-free sub-cells in metamorphic epitaxy;
• Advances in reducing the migration and accumulation of halide ions at the interfaces in polycrystalline organic/inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells;
• Development of manufacturing nontoxic materials as an alternative to lead-based perovskite solar cells;
• Control of the valence–inter-sub-band–conduction band transitions in coupled quantum dot layers;
• Progress in the structural and functional characterization of complex ternary and quaternary alloys;
• Advances in energy conversion applications.

Dr. Teresa Ben
Guest Editor

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