Full-spectrum Solar Cells using Conventional Methods

One way to make solar cells more efficient is to use full-spectrum solar cell. The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Researchers have come up with a new semiconductor for a stronger response against all parts of the spectrum.

Traditional solar cells typically have a limited band gap caused by the type of semiconductor used. In traditional solar cells, semiconductor will only respond to certain segments of the solar spectrum.

Manufacture of solar cells that support the response to low-energy infrared through the visible light to high-energy ultraviolet considered too costly, so no support for mass production.

The development of new solar cell using the conventional method would be cheaper and will be able to respond to the entire spectrum compared to previous technology that was more complicated and expensive. New solar cells are using multiband semiconductor alloys, gallium arsenide nitride and produced by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition method.

The results of the study that published in the journal Physical Review Letters, has provide better opportunities for more efficient solar cells that can be mass produced using conventional methods.