Theoretical Limits of Photovoltaics Efficiency and Possible Improvements by Intuitive Approaches Learned from Photosynthesis and Quantum Coherence

In this review, we present and discussed the main trends in photovoltaics with emphasize on the conversion efficiency limits. The theoretical limits of various photovoltaics device concepts are presented and analyzed using a flexible detailed balance model where more discussion emphasize is toward the losses. Also, few lessons from nature and other fields to improve the conversion efficiency in photovoltaics are presented and discussed as well. From photosynthesis, the perfect exciton transport in photosynthetic complexes can be utilized for PVs. Also, we present some lessons learned from other fields like recombination suppression by quantum coherence. For example, the coupling in photosynthetic reaction centers is used to suppress recombination in photocells.Comment: 47 pages, 22 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1307.5093, arXiv:1105.4189 by other author

Roadmap on optical energy conversion

For decades, progress in the field of optical (including solar) energy conversion was dominated by advances in the conventional concentrating optics and materials design. In recent years, however, conceptual and technological breakthroughs in the fields of nanophotonics and plasmonics combined with a better understanding of the thermodynamics of the photon energy-conversion processes reshaped the landscape of energy-conversion schemes and devices. Nanostructured devices and materials that make use of size quantization effects to manipulate photon density of states offer a way to overcome the conventional light absorption limits. Novel optical spectrum splitting and photon-recycling schemes reduce the entropy production in the optical energy-conversion platforms and boost their efficiencies. Optical design concepts are rapidly expanding into the infrared energy band, offering new approaches to harvest waste heat, to reduce the thermal emission losses, and to achieve noncontact radiative cooling of solar cells as well as of optical and electronic circuitries. Light–matter interaction enabled by nanophotonics and plasmonics underlie the performance of the third- and fourth-generation energy-conversion devices, including up- and down-conversion of photon energy, near-field radiative energy transfer, and hot electron generation and harvesting. Finally, the increased market penetration of alternative solar energy-conversion technologies amplifies the role of cost-driven and environmental considerations. This roadmap on optical energy conversion provides a snapshot of the state of the art in optical energy conversion, remaining challenges, and most promising approaches to address these challenges. Leading experts authored 19 focused short sections of the roadmap where they share their vision on a specific aspect of this burgeoning research field. The roadmap opens up with a tutorial section, which introduces major concepts and terminology. It is our hope that the roadmap will serve as an important resource for the scientific community, new generations of researchers, funding agencies, industry experts, and investors.United States. Department of Energy (DE-AC36-086038308

Generalized Scharfetter-Gummel schemes for electro-thermal transport in degenerate semiconductors using the Kelvin formula for the Seebeck coefficient

Many challenges faced in today's semiconductor devices are related to self-heating phenomena. The optimization of device designs can be assisted by numerical simulations using the non-isothermal drift-diffusion system, where the magnitude of the thermoelectric cross effects is controlled by the Seebeck coefficient. We show that the model equations take a remarkably simple form when assuming the so-called Kelvin formula for the Seebeck coefficient. The corresponding heat generation rate involves exactly the three classically known self-heating effects, namely Joule, recombination and Thomson-Peltier heating, without any further (transient) contributions. Moreover, the thermal driving force in the electrical current density expressions can be entirely absorbed in the diffusion coefficient via a generalized Einstein relation. The efficient numerical simulation relies on an accurate and robust discretization technique for the fluxes (finite volume Scharfetter-Gummel method), which allows to cope with the typically stiff solutions of the semiconductor device equations. We derive two non-isothermal generalizations of the Scharfetter-Gummel scheme for degenerate semiconductors (Fermi-Dirac statistics) obeying the Kelvin formula. The approaches differ in the treatment of degeneration effects: The first is based on an approximation of the discrete generalized Einstein relation implying a specifically modified thermal voltage, whereas the second scheme follows the conventionally used approach employing a modified electric field. We present a detailed analysis and comparison of both schemes, indicating a superior performance of the modified thermal voltage scheme.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

From steam engine to solar cells: can thermodynamics guide the development of future generations of photovoltaics?

Thermodynamics has played a singular role in the development of virtually all energy technologies to-date. This review argues that it also has a role to play in the understanding and design of solar cell operation, particularly looking toward the future, high-efficiency solar cells. After a historical overview of the key developments in the ‘thermodynamics of light,’ the conversion of a monochromatic light beam is used as a starting point to analyze the conversion process, examine the fundamental losses in terms of irreversible entropy generation, and consider in detail one of the key applications: the Shockley–Queisser detailed balance. We review and compare the principal suggestions for the highest theoretical efficiency of solar energy conversion, and analyze one possible embodiment of such a third-generation structure: the hot-carrier solar cell. A somewhat different application of the statistical approach—light trapping—is reviewed at a fundamental level, and the future potential is considered for devices which combine such a ‘thermodynamic squeezing’ of light with latest developments in photonics, leading to a photonic bandgap solar cell. We argue that the widespread use of thermodynamic tools in the current photovoltaics research, especially when combined with the potential benefits to future devices, already indicates that our thinking should not be about if but how thermodynamics can guide us to make better solar cells

Irreversible Thermodynamic Bound for the Efficiency of Light-Emitting Diodes

A thermodynamic model for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is developed by considering energy and entropy flows in the system. Thermodynamic constraints have previously been considered separately for the reversible process of electroluminescence in LEDs and for light extraction and collimation in other optical systems. By considering both processes in the LED model, an irreversible upper bound for the conversion of electrical energy to optical energy is derived and shown to be higher than unity, but tighter and more realistic than the reversible case. We also model a LED as an endoreversible heat engine where the carrier-transport processes can be directly connected to the elements of a thermodynamic cycle

Hybrid quantum-classical modeling of quantum dot devices

The design of electrically driven quantum dot devices for quantum optical applications asks for modeling approaches combining classical device physics with quantum mechanics. We connect the well-established fields of semi-classical semiconductor transport theory and the theory of open quantum systems to meet this requirement. By coupling the van Roosbroeck system with a quantum master equation in Lindblad form, we obtain a new hybrid quantum-classical modeling approach, which enables a comprehensive description of quantum dot devices on multiple scales: It allows the calculation of quantum optical figures of merit and the spatially resolved simulation of the current flow in realistic semiconductor device geometries in a unified way. We construct the interface between both theories in such a way, that the resulting hybrid system obeys the fundamental axioms of (non-)equilibrium thermodynamics. We show that our approach guarantees the conservation of charge, consistency with the thermodynamic equilibrium and the second law of thermodynamics. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated by numerical simulations of an electrically driven single-photon source based on a single quantum dot in the stationary and transient operation regime

Numerical methods for drift-diffusion models

The van Roosbroeck system describes the semi-classical transport of free electrons and holes in a self-consistent electric field using a drift-diffusion approximation. It became the standard model to describe the current flow in semiconductor devices at macroscopic scale. Typical devices modeled by these equations range from diodes, transistors, LEDs, solar cells and lasers to quantum nanostructures and organic semiconductors. The report provides an introduction into numerical methods for the van Roosbroeck system. The main focus lies on the Scharfetter-Gummel finite volume discretization scheme and recent efforts to generalize this approach to general statistical distribution functions