Enhancing the performance of thin-film photovoltaic cells via the application of luminescent down-shifting layers

光伏(PV)设备将太阳光直接转化为电能。几十年来，占主导地位的光伏技术一直基于成本高昂的厚硅片。然而，由于更高的能量转换效率和制造工艺，薄膜光伏电池可以提供比传统晶片技术更低的价格。该项目采用了领先的薄膜技术之一，并将其与无源光学层相结合，通过克服内部吸收损耗，使性能提高了30%。预计性能的提高将使薄膜光伏技术在商业上更加可行，并对未来的商业化具有吸引力，从而降低太阳能发电的成本。

Photovoltaic (PV) devices convert sunlight directly into electricity. For decades, the dominant PV technology has been based on thick, costly silicon wafers. However, due to higher energy conversion efficiencies and manufacturing processes, thin film PV cells can provide lower price than of the conventional wafer-based technologies. This project takes one of the leading thin film technologies and couples it with a passive optical layer, which will result in a 30% performance enhancement by overcoming internal absorption losses. It is anticipated that the increased performance will enable the thin film PV technology to be far more commercially viable and attractive for future commercialisation, and hence reduce the cost of solar power.