A platform for colorful solar cells with enhanced absorption.
We demonstrate submicron thick platform integrating amorphous silicon nanowires and thin-films achieving vivid colors in transmission and reflection. The platform nearly doubles the absorption efficiency compared to the starting thin-film without much compromising with color diverseness. The structural colors can be changed over a wide range by changing the diameters of the nanowires while still keeping the absorption efficiency higher than starting thin-film. The optical response of the platform is conceptually understood for different diameters combined with different thin-film thicknesses indicating the presence of leaky waveguide modes and coupled cavity modes. Our proposed platform can enable architectural low price colorful solar cells on transparent substrates.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada. Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, 200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
Navneet
N
Dhindsa
Jaspreet
J
Walia
Simarjeet Singh
SS
Saini