Photovoltaic (PV) cells are typically formed from semiconductor absorber layers. These absorber layers exhibit absorption of light with photon energy above their bandgap energy to generate electron-hole pairs. The absorber layers can also exhibit non-radiative recombination in the bulk of the absorber material. However, the absorber semiconductor...

There is a need for solar cells with highly efficient light-to-electricity conversion and lower cost. Multijunction cells, which include multiple light-absorbing materials, each of which converts a given wavelength range of the solar spectrum, can be used to provide greater conversion efficiency than single-junction thin-film solar cells. However,...

Invention Description Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a skylight design that integrates low-cost refractive glass elements to steer light towards vertically oriented photovoltaics. The vertical orientation avoids blocking of sunlight into the skylight while the suspended or mounted glass optics direct radiation to the cells for...