Solar Cell Having Local Electrostatic Fields in the Photoactive Region

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This patent describes a novel solar cell design featuring the incorporation of local electrostatic fields within the photoactive region. These fields, generated by ferroelelectric dipoles or charged species, help separate and transport charge carriers more efficiently by locally reducing recombination and improving their passage to the electrodes. The technology is especially advantageous for organic and polycrystalline/nanocrystalline inorganic solar cells, which typically suffer from low charge carrier mobility and high recombination rates.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Organic solar cells for consumer or industrial photovoltaic panels.
• Polycrystalline or nanocrystalline silicon solar modules for large-scale solar farms.
• Flexible and lightweight solar cells for portable electronics or wearables.
• Low-cost hybrid organic-inorganic solar cells for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).
• Improvement of existing lower-efficiency solar cell technologies where high recombination is problematic.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Reduces recombination losses in the photoactive layer, increasing overall efficiency.
• Enables better charge carrier separation and transport, leading to higher current and voltage output.
• Allows for material and design flexibility, especially in organic and polycrystalline/nanocrystalline solar cells.
• Possible elimination of the need for complex doping profiles or pn-junctions, lowering manufacturing complexity and cost.
• Applicable to solar cells with less-than-ideal microstructures, extending the range of usable materials.

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Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The invention allows the recombination of charge carriers to be reduced locally and the charge carrier transport towards the outer electrodes (05, 07) to be improved by incorporating local electrostatic fields (02) into the photoactive region (06), said local fields having dimensions in the range of the diffusion length (DL) and preferably also having a permanent, adjustable polarity in the direction of the outer electrodes (05, 07), resulting in an increase in current density and terminal voltage Voc of the solar cell. Especially in organic solar cells (01) the local electrostatic fields (02) can be produced by the incorporation of ferroelectric dipoles (03). The principle underlying the present invention is preferably used in solar cells having no space charge region or having a polycrystalline/nanocrystalline structure and/or in organic solar cells.