Towards a Practical Hot Carrier Solar Cell
- $2.27m Funded by ARENA
- $6.54m Total project cost
Summary
This project is investigating suitable materials and structures that could be used to produce a working model of a Hot Carrier solar cell, which can more effectively harvest energy from sunlight.
Need
Reducing the cost of solar electricity will increase its use by Australians.
Project innovation
Hot Carrier (HC) solar cells are able to convert more solar energy to electricity than existing solar cells by slowing down the cooling of the ‘carriers’ which hold the energy transferred by sunlight, and more effectively harvesting that energy.
The project involves further investigation of suitable materials and structures to facilitate development of the technology and construction of a working model of the HC solar cell.
Project researchers are also examining the use of abundant materials and commercially available production methods, both of which would reduce the overall cost of generating solar electricity from this technology.
Learn more
Report: Hot Carrier Solar Cell – Project Results and Lessons Learnt
A report on the demonstration of proof-of-concept Hot Carrier cells towards the development of a high efficiency, low cost device.
Benefit
A successful design and production method for the Hot Carrier solar cell will help to significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing and operating solar energy technologies.
