Development of SnS Quantum Dot Solar Cell
Date3rd Jan 2024
Time11:00 AM
Venue HSB-209, Seminar Hall, Department of Physics, IIT Madras
PAST EVENT
Details
Nowadays, global energy demand and greenhouse emissions are increasing day by day. Solar energy is a renewable source and an alternative to this demand. Silicon solar cells dominate the PV market at present. The challenges with silicon solar cells are the use of thick absorber due indirect band gap nature, the cost, and the need for cutting-edge technology to suit the application demand. Moreover, there is a fundamental limitation to their efficiency, just as for any 1st and 2nd generation single junction solar cell. For instance, Shockley-Queisser (SQ) efficiency limit for single-junction silicon solar cells is 29.1%. To overcome this efficiency limit, third-generation solar cells have been introduced. The quantum dots (QD) solar cells are an example of third-generation concept. QDs are newly studied materials for solar cells and have the potential to overcome the SQ limit. In the earlier days, much research was carried out on CdS, CdSe, and PdS QD solar cells. Compared to these absorbers, SnS is a new material with excellent optoelectronic properties. It is stable and nontoxic in a normal environment. Using SnS as an absorbing material, QD solar cells will be prepared, where TiO2 will be used as electron transport layer, and P3HT will be used as the hole transport layer. One of the major problems with SnS QD solar cells is the insufficient light absorption if a mono layer of QDs act as absorber of the solar cell and the barrier to carrier transport and recombination at the QDs’ boundaries. The proposed research is to fabricate a bulk heterojunction solar cell using TiO2 nanorods and SnS QDs. The aim is to increase light trapping in the QDs and to give a direct pathway for electron transport through TiO2 nanorods.
Speakers
Mr. SUBHASHIS SAHA, (PH19D069)
Department of Physics, IIT Madras