TFQD has provided advances beyond the state of the art in several areas: ELO thin film technology; QD solar cells, with new insight on the Voc issue and the demonstration of record Voc cells both in substrate and thin-film configuration; effective light trapping approaches; novel strategies for photon recycling. Many of the achieved results are attractive for application in other solar cell technologies or material systems. The results attained with the QD cells demonstrate that high efficiency QDSCs are feasible, paving the way in the short-term to the use of QDs for the development of multijunction cells when a suitable bulk material is not found. Moreover, the scientific and technological know-how gained in TFQD will be essential to develop a variety of next generation concepts based on QDs.
The development of thin-film solar cells with high efficiencies represents a breakthrough for satellites design and performance, since flexibility and light weight may push the development of new missions and new architectures. Demonstration of the TF(QD) cells would represent an innovation boost for space solar panel manufacturers, since their implementation in space solar panels can improve the panel’s power-to-weight ratio by a staggering factor of four.
The successful penetration of thin-film III-V cells in the space solar cell market, would lead to a remarkable growth for companies in the field of lift-off of III-V films and thin-film III-V solar cell processing. Furthermore, since the ELO technique enables a significant cost reduction in view of wafer reuse – which is a key-requirement for the environmental sustainability of large scale production of III-V cells - the wafer reclaim industry will receive a significant boost.
The building blocks developed in TFQD have themselves the potential to strengthen the competiveness and growth of companies: besides lift-off and thin-film processing, high quality epitaxial material grown by MBE and production of photonic structures through an industrialize-able process such as NIL are two areas of strong potential impact.
On account of wafer reuse and simplicity of the epitaxial structures, the TF(QD) solar cells are less expensive than commercially available multi-junction solar cells, thus also important potential impact in terrestrial applications is foreseen, starting with concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems. CPV exploitation in turn could lead to a significant reduction of the Levelized Cost Of Electricity of this technology, opening up other markets such as those of unmanned aerial vehicles and stratospheric platforms, automotive, portable electronics and building integrated photovoltaics.
