PV Plasmonics

Burhan Saifaddin

Outline

• Motivation for Plamonics PV– 1$/cost– -problems with current PV technology

• Efficiency should be more than 20%• Solar module more to the 0.50

• Advantages of Plasmonics PV– Enable use of new materials as thinfilms.– Raise efficiency

• Examples on Plasmonics Architectures

Energy Challenge

Page 3Burhan Saifaddin Presentation | ENSC S-175 | August 8, 2011

2010 2015 20280

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Oil Consumption and Production - 8% energy consumption

ConsumptionProduction Capacity

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Current oil consumption is equivalent to 3.2 million barrel a day in electricity, water, transportation and industry. Demands have increased by 27% over the last three years. 2032 Electricity demands will trouble ; additional 80 GW Very challenging politically to decrease consumption rate.

Data is based on a speech by Hashim Yamani, president of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, at GCF 2011.

Strait of Hormuz

What are Plasmons ?

• Surface Plasmons: surface waves that propagate along the surface of a conductor.

• Used to concentrate and channel light using subwaveleght microstructures.

• Other applications: wavelength optics, microscopy, data storage, light generation, and biophontoics.

Extraordinary optical transmission through sub-wavelength hole array, Ebbesen, Nature 1998.Theory of Diffraction by Small Holes, Bethe, Phys. Rev. 1944.

Overview of Current Photovoltaics (PV)

DOE, 2011 5

Minimum installed system cost for: Rooftops 6-8 $/Wp, Utility cost 5 $/Wp, DOE goal to reach total of 1$/Wp (without batteries)

In 2012Chinese Silicon based Module dominate the marketPrices for module are expected to reach 0.7 $/Wp for module. Is this is the real cost ?!

GreenTechMedia

First solar 0.60-.55 by 2014

Stock price in 20083Stock price ~39$

Page 6Burhan Saifaddin Presentation | ENSC S-175 | August 8, 2011 www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/pdf/economics_of_solar.pdf

1 $/Wp5 c/kWh

What can Plasmonics do to PV ?Decrease in materials cost by 10% can ,possibly, can reduce

Solar Module by 0.1$/Wp

~ 50B dollars industry based on generous Government subsides and ‘’biased’ regulations

Plasmonics Light trapping

Scattering Concentration surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating

Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices. Atwater, Polman, Nat. Mat 2010.

Improve light absorption while preserving high carrier collection which enable thinner active materials

Light scattering and trapping is very sensitive to shape and of particles.

For efficient exciton harvesting,Materials thickness (or effective optical thickness) must be shorter than exciton diffusion length

Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices. Atwater, Polman, Nat. Mat 2010.

1. Enable Thin films of Inexpensive materials with short exciton diffusion length and more defects.2. Reduce dark current 3. Increase photocurrent.4. Possibly reduce cost.

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C. Wadia, A. Alivisatos, D. Kammen, Environ. Sci. Technol 43, 2072 (2009).MIT Energy Workshop on Critical Elements for New Energy Technologies | April 29, 2010

Burhan Saifaddin Presentation | ENSC S-175 | August 8, 2011

Also, help other short diffusion length quantum dots, organics, polycrys. semiconductors etc.

Advantages of Plasmonics.

Examples on plasmonic solar-cell designs

Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices. Atwater, Polman, Nat. Mat 2010.

Plasmonic light trapping in thin-film Si solar cells

• Using Finite difference time domain (FDTD):

– Designed an array of Ag-particles in combination with an ITO layer that is equivalent to a standard ITO antireflection coating.

– Estimated that 95% of the light is transmitted at angles beyond the critical angle for total internal reflection (14 degrees for a-Si:H/air).

In another study (Spinelli et al): vary Refractive index vs and scattering peaks. And dound strong Fano resonance effects that reduce the light incoupling for short wavelengths.

P Spinelli et al 2012 J. Opt. 14

Future work

• Dynamics and coupling between plasmons and excitons.

• Applications of Finite difference time domain (FDTD).

Light trapping in thin Si solar cells using coupled plasmonic antenna

• Scattering and coupled spectra depend on particle, shape and dielectric

• Systematically