This is a thin-film solar cell in which a "nanoparticle" having a diameter of 10 to 100 nm is mixed in a transparent medium and an extremely thin layer is coated on a glass substrate. It is said that when the nanoparticles are exposed to sunlight, they release “hot electrons†and generate electromotive force. This kind of solar cell can use infrared light whose wavelength exceeds 2 μm to generate electricity, and can improve energy conversion performance compared with existing silicon-based solar cells. Chris Bings, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Leicester, said, “As long as it is a smooth surface, materials can be sprayed on any place such as glass windows and building walls to make them into solar cells,†and so it is comparable to commercial power. It is expected to significantly reduce the cost of power generation. Because the active layer is very thin, it is also possible to achieve "power generation glazing" that guarantees transparency.
EnSol did not disclose the composition of nanoparticles. However, Prof. Binz of the University of Leicester stated in an interview with Nikkei Electronics that “nanoparticles are not semiconductor particles (such as quantum dots) such as GaAs, but metallic particles, and they also have surface plasmon resonance. (SPR) effect for electron release." Recently, the number of related papers using solar cells for SPR has increased dramatically. However, most of the techniques use SPR to increase the solar absorptivity for power generation or to widen the wavelength width range. The difference between this technology and the past is that nanoparticles can also act as a source of charge while generating SPR effects.
Incidentally, in most cases, the first-generation solar battery cell refers to a crystalline silicon solar cell, the second-generation refers to a thin-film solar cell, and the third-generation multi-finger quantum dot solar cell. The reason why this solar cell is called “4th generation†is because it is positioned as a next-generation solar cell after quantum dots.
The division between EnSol and the University of Leicester is that the University of Leicester is responsible for the development and supply of nanoparticles, and EnSol uses nanoparticles to make cells. Although small units for stacking various materials can only be manufactured in a vacuum apparatus at present, in the near future, the company will introduce a device using a glass substrate to manufacture a 4 cm square slightly larger unit. EnSol stated that "the current goal is to achieve more than 20% conversion efficiency."
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