Designing a hybrid thin-film/wafer silicon triple photovoltaic junction for solar water splitting

Solar fuels are a promising way to store solar energy seasonally. This paper proposes an earth-abundant heterostructure to split water using a photovoltaic-electrochemical device (PV-EC). The heterostructure is based on a hybrid architecture of a thin-film (TF) silicon tandem on top of a c-Si wafer (W) heterojunction solar cell (a-Si:H (TF)...

A Stand-Alone Si-Based Porous Photoelectrochemical Cell

Wireless photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices promise easy device fabrication as well as reduced losses. Here, the design and fabrication of a stand-alone ion exchange material-embedded, Si membrane-based, photoelectrochemical cell architecture with micron-sized pores is shown, to overcome the i) pH gradient formation due to long-distance ion...

Electrochemical Oxidation of Organic Pollutants Powered by a Silicon-Based Solar Cell

Currently available (photo-)electrochemical technologies for water treatment establish a trade-off between low-pollutant concentration and costs. This paper aims at decoupling these two variables by designing a photo-oxidation device using earth abundant materials and an electronic-free approach. The proposed device combines a graphite...

Photovoltaic-(photo)electrochemical devices for water splitting and water treatment

The current energy scenario requires not only the conversion of renewable energy sources into electrical energy, but also a way to store it to match the demand and supply. In particular, solar energy can be used to stabilize energy conversion and energy supply by converting the energy in other diverse ways. And important possibility are photo...

Improving the Back Surface Field on an Amorphous Silicon Carbide Thin Film Photocathode for Solar Water Splitting

Amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) is a promising material for photoelectrochemical water splitting owing to its relatively small band-gap energy and high chemical and optoelectrical stability. This work studies the interplay between charge-carrier separation and collection, and their injection into the electrolyte, when modifying the...

Solar fuel production by using PV/PEC junctions based on earth-abundant materials

One of the main problems of renewable energies is storage of the energy carrier. For long-term storage, solar fuels seem to be a good option. Direct solar water splitting could play an important role in the production of these solar fuels. One of the main challenges of this process is the charge separation and collection at the interfaces. The...

A thin-film silicon/silicon hetero-junction hybrid solar cell for photoelectrochemical water-reduction applications

A hybrid tandem solar cell consisting of a thin-film, nanocrystalline silicon top junction and a siliconheterojunction bottom junction is proposed as a supporting solar cell for photoelectrochemical applications.Tunneling recombination junction engineering is shown to be an important consideration indesigning this type of solar cell. The best...