Black Silicon To Increase The Efficiency Of Solar Cells:

A big drawback in wide use of solar energy is that thesilicon based solar cells are not much efficient. Scientists at Alto university have found a way to increase the efficiency through Black Silicon (b-Si). The new silicon nano-structure helps to absorb more light, resulting in a more efficient product.

According to Paivikki Repo, the scientist behind the study, this method provides extremely good surface passivization. It also reduces the reflectance further at all wavelengths. Paivikki believes that results are so promising that they can take the efficiency of solar cells on a completely new level. The new nano-structure is developed using atomic layer coating. b-Si can be used in development of devices that require high sensitivity light responses including solar cells.

Black Silicon is able to reduce the surface reflectance even below 1 percent, but it also has some issues. Using b-Si results in increased surface recombination that gives poor spectral response. The problem is more serious at shorter wavelengths.