High-efficiency Hybrid Solar Cells for Micro-generation

为了满足不断变化的能源需求，光伏发电的广泛实施需要光伏发电成本的逐步变化。该提案召集了来自曼彻斯特大学和伦敦帝国理工学院的化学家、物理学家、材料科学家和电气工程师组成的联盟，通过开发新的低成本、高效率的微型太阳能电池来解决这一需求。我们提出了有机/无机混合器件的新设计，将灵活性和稳定性与廉价材料和基于溶液的处理相结合。在一种设计中，半导体量子点（QDs）被用作高迁移率有机空穴传输体和定向金属氧化物纳米棒阵列之间的界面上的光吸收剂，后者充当电子传输体。光学和电子特性的独立优化将导致最大化功率转换效率的设计规则。在第二种设计中，混合聚合物/量子点混合太阳能电池将与新型金属氧化物电极进行优化。该提案首次在同一设备概念中结合了超高效率和超低成本的新方法。我们的目标是建造可负担得起的示范混合太阳能电池，可以大规模生产，长期潜力达到10%的能量转换效率。

Widespread implementation of photovoltaic electricity to meet changing energy demands requires a step-change in the cost of photovoltaic power. This proposal assembles a consortium of chemists, physicists, materials scientists and electrical engineers from The University of Manchester and Imperial College London to address this need through the development of new low-cost, high-efficiency, demonstration solar cells for micro-generation.We propose new designs for hybrid organic/inorganic devices which integrate flexibility and stability with inexpensive materials and solution based processing. In one design, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are used as the light absorber at the interface between a high mobility organic hole transporter and an array of directed metal oxide nano-rods, which act as the electron transporter. Independent optimisation of the optical and electronic properties will lead to design rules for maximising power conversion efficiency. In a second design, hybrid polymer/QD blend solar cells with novel metal oxide electrodes will be optimised. This proposal combines new approaches for ultra high efficiency with ultra low cost in the same device concept for the first time. Our aim is to construct affordable demonstration hybrid solar cells that could be mass-produced with long-term potential to achieve energy conversion efficiency of 10%.