Solar cells based on silicon semiconductors account for about 90% of 2009 sales of photovoltaic (PV) products that convert sunlight directly into electricity. Silicon in PV takes many forms, including single-crystal and polycrystalline wafers sawed from ingots, melt-grown ribbons, and thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers from gaseous precursors.
The Silicon Materials and Devices Group pursues basic and applied research on silicon materials and devices to improve PV conversion efficiencies and reduce costs.
Applied research and development includes:
- Advanced silicon heterojunction photovoltaic cells with low-temperature processing
- Novel approaches to thin crystal silicon PV on inexpensive substrates
- Nanostructured "black silicon" antireflection
- New combinatorial approaches to device optimization
- Crystal growth for silicon feedstock evaluation
Basic research topics include:
- Mechanisms of silicon film growth and epitaxy
- H diffusion and hydrogenation
- Light-induced metastable degradation in a-Si:H
- Electronic defects in semiconductors
- Nanoparticle silicon transport
The U.S. Department of Energy funds much of our work through the National Center for Photovoltaics as part of NREL's Solar Program. In addition, our industry partners fund cooperative contract research to develop silicon materials and devices for PV and other applications.
Here, you'll find:
We are not pursuing research on silicon life forms. :)
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