Journal
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
Volume 2, Issue 3, Pages 353-360Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201100608
Keywords
nanostructures; semiconductors; solar cells; thin films; transparent contacts
Categories
Funding
- US Department of Energy [DE-AC36-08-GO28308]
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics, an Energy Frontier Research Center
- US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Networks made of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and metallic nanowire networks, graphene, and ultra-thin metal films have all been proposed as replacements for transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) in photovoltaic and other applications. However, only limited comparisons of nanostructured networks and TCOs are available. Several common figures of merit that are often used to compare the electrical and optical performance of the transparent contacts are evaluated here, and the merits of each method of comparison are discussed. Calculating the current loss due to absorption in the TCO is the most useful metric for evaluating new materials for use in solar cells with well-defined sheet resistance requirements and known quantum efficiencies. The Haacke figure of merit, FH, correlates fairly well with current loss and is a good metric for evaluating electro-optical performance for more general applications. The analyses presented here demonstrate that silver nanowire networks are much closer to achieving optimal electrical and optical properties than carbon-based networks.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available