Abstract:
One challenge in making solar cells more efficient is countering the effects of bad spots in the large areas of semiconductor material used to harvest energy from light. These spots drain current, making devices like solar cells less efficient. The researchers have found a way to use properties of the bad spots to seal them off from the working area of the cell. The researchers used the method to boost the efficiency of a cadmium telluride/cadmium sulfide solar cell from 2 percent to 11 percent.