Honeycomb layer boost for ultra-thin silicon photovoltaics

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Researchers have developed a light-trapping honeycomb layer that has improved energy absorption in ultra-thin silicon photovoltaic panels by 25 per cent.

honeycomb layer
The thin silicon membrane uses a disordered honeycomb layer to maximise the absorption of sunlight (Image: Surrey University)

Co-led by Surrey University, the team’s 1μm thick solar panels convert light into electricity more efficiently than others and could pave the way to make it easier to general more clean, green energy.

In a paper published in Photonics, the team detail how they used characteristics of sunlight to design a disordered honeycomb layer which lies on top of a wafer of silicon. The honeycomb design enables light absorption from any angle and traps light inside the solar cell, enabling more energy to be generated.

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In a statement, Dr Marian Florescu from Surrey University’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) said: “One of the challenges of working with silicon is that nearly a third of light bounces straight off it without being absorbed and the energy harnessed. A textured layer across the silicon helps tackle this and our disordered, yet hyperuniform, honeycomb design is particularly successful.”

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