Progress in Indium Gallium Nitride Materials for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Conversion
Progress in Indium Gallium Nitride Materials for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Conversion
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DOI：
10.1007/s11661-013-1622-1
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发表时间：
2013-04-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Pearce, Joshua M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
McLaughlin, Dirk V. P.;Pearce, Joshua M.
世界需要廉价、可靠和可持续的能源。太阳能光伏(PV)技术将太阳光直接转化为电能，是解决我们面临的能源挑战的一个极具前景的解决方案。随着效率的提高，这一承诺也会增加。提高光伏设备效率的一种直接方法是利用多结电池，每个电池负责吸收太阳光谱中不同范围的波长。氮化铟(In(X)Ga1-xN)具有从0.7 eV到3.4 eV的可变带隙，几乎覆盖了整个太阳光谱。此外，In(X)Ga1-xN可以被视为潜在的带隙工程和纳米柱微结构工程的理想候选光伏材料，提供光学增强。很明显，In(X)Ga1-xN是一种非常通用的潜在光伏材料，可以实现几种已知的光伏器件配置和多结，理论效率超过50%。这种潜力正在推动人们对材料系统产生巨大的科学兴趣。本文综述了太阳能光伏技术领域以及In(X)Ga1-xN材料和光伏器件的基本特性。总结了在(X)Ga1-x N光伏器件中实现高效率仍然存在的挑战以及未来工作的路径。最后，对In(X)Ga1-xN光伏技术的发展前景进行了展望。
The world requires inexpensive, reliable, and sustainable energy sources. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, which converts sunlight directly into electricity, is an enormously promising solution to our energy challenges. This promise increases as the efficiencies are improved. One straightforward method of increasing PV device efficiency is to utilize multi-junction cells, each of which is responsible for absorbing a different range of wavelengths in the solar spectrum. Indium gallium nitride (In (x) Ga1-x N) has a variable band gap from 0.7 to 3.4 eV that covers nearly the whole solar spectrum. In addition, In (x) Ga1-x N can be viewed as an ideal candidate PV material for both this potential band gap engineering and microstructural engineering in nanocolumns that offer optical enhancement. It is clear that In (x) Ga1-x N is an extremely versatile potential PV material that enables several known photovoltaic device configurations and multi-junctions with theoretic efficiencies over 50 pct. This potential is driving immense scientific interest in the material system. This paper reviews the solar PV technology field and the basic properties of In (x) Ga1-x N materials and PV devices. The challenges that remain in realizing a high-efficiency In (x) Ga1-x N PV device are summarized along with paths for future work. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the potential for In (x) Ga1-x N photovoltaic technology in the future.