Descrizione del progetto
Migliorare l’efficienza della conversione della luce infrarossa in energia
La luce a infrarossi rappresenta circa metà dell’energia solare che raggiunge la superficie terrestre. Tuttavia, i raggi solari infrarossi passano solitamente attraverso i materiali fotovoltaici che compongono le celle solari. Il progetto PAIDEIA, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di migliorare la conversione dell’energia solare nella parte infrarossa dello spettro. A tal fine, impiegherà nanocristalli a semiconduttore drogati che possiedono una risposta plasmonica regolabile nell’intervallo di 800-4 000 nm. Saranno testate tre diverse architetture per produrre un dispositivo a cella solare altamente efficiente. Infine, il progetto intende sviluppare una cella solare tandem che combini l’efficienza della regolare conversione di energia di una cella solare commerciale in silicio con il nuovo dispositivo che si propone di creare, mirando a un’efficienza di conversione totale dell’energia solare del 30 %.
Obiettivo
Earth is inhabited by an energy hungry human society. The Sun, with a global radiation at the ground level of more than 1 kW/m^2, is our largest source of energy. However, 45% of the total radiation is in the near infrared (NIR) and is not absorbed by most photovoltaic materials.
PAIDEIA focuses on two main advantages aiming to enhance the capacity of solar energy conversion:
i) plasmon assisted hot carriers extraction from NIR plasmonic materials;
ii) linewidth narrowing in plasmonic nanoparticle films that enhances the lifetime of hot carriers and, thus, boosts the efficiency of light driven carrier extraction.
Instead of metals, which operate mostly in the visible region, we will make use of doped semiconductor nanocrystals (DSNCs) as hot electron extraction materials possessing a plasmonic response tunable in the range 800 nm – 4000 nm. Three different innovative architectures will be used for improved device performance: i) improved Schottky junctions (DSNC/wide band gap semiconductor nanocomposites); ii) ultrathin devices (DSNCs/2D quantum materials); iii) maximized interface DSNC/semiconductor bulk hetero-Schottky junctions.
By combining both concepts in advanced architectures we aim to produce a solar cell device that functions in the NIR with efficiencies of up to 10%. A tandem solar cell that combines the conventional power conversion efficiency, up to ~1100 nm, of a commercial Si solar cell (~20%) with the new PAIDEIA based device is expected to reach a total power conversion efficiency of 30% by extending the width of wavelengths that are converted to the full spectral range delivered by the Sun. PAIDEIA has a deeply fundamental character impacting several areas in the field of nanophysics, nanochemistry and materials processing and, at the same time, having a high impact on the study of solar energy conversion. Finally, PAIDEIA will provide answers to the fundamental questions regarding the physical behaviour of plasmonic/semiconductor interfaces.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energy
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materialsnanocrystals
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsenergy conversion
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantIstituzione ospitante
10129 Torino
Italia