title: Enhancing Solar Cell Efficiency Using Photon Upconversion Materials.
abstract: Photovoltaic cells are able to convert sunlight into electricity, providing enough of the most abundant and cleanest energy to cover our energy needs. However, the efficiency of current photovoltaics is significantly impeded by the transmission loss of sub-band-gap photons. Photon upconversion is a promising route to circumvent this problem by converting these transmitted sub-band-gap photons into above-band-gap light, where solar cells typically have high quantum efficiency. Here, we summarize recent progress on varying types of efficient upconversion materials as well as their outstanding uses in a series of solar cells, including silicon solar cells (crystalline and amorphous), gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and other types of solar cells. The challenge and prospect of upconversion materials for photovoltaic applications are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. shangyunfei@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yunfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. haosw@hit.edu.cn.|Harbin Huigong Technology Co., Ltd., Harbin 150001, China. haosw@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shuwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. yangchh@hit.edu.cn.|Harbin Huigong Technology Co., Ltd., Harbin 150001, China. yangchh@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. chenguanying@hit.edu.cn.|Institute for Lasers, Photonics, and Biophotonics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. chenguanying@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guanying
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: efficiency; photovoltaic; upconversion