Low-Energy Electron Multiplication On Nanostructured Solar cells

Photovoltaics (PVs) cells will play a major role in the worldwide transition to more sustainable sources of energy.

There has been a vast scale up in the deployment of PV cells driven by the drastic price reduction of Si photovoltaics (Si-PVs).

It is now widely accepted that increases in PV efficiency are key to pushing PV deployment further and continuing to lower costs.

However, after decades of research and development, Si-PVs are approaching the theoretical limit for power conversion efficiencies (currently 26.8% out of a possible 29.4%) as determined by the Shockley-Queisser limit, due to thermalisation losses.

There is currently no commercially deployed technology that can overcome this challenge.The project LEEMONS will make a proof-of-concept demonstration of a new technology – an electron multiplication phenomenon, which overcomes these fundamental thermalisation losses by converting high energy electrons into several lower energy electrons.

This solution is compatible with 80% (possibly 95%) of current PV manufacturing capacity as well as future designs and hence requiring little change on the current manufacturing lines and therefore low capital expenses.

LEEMONS project will produce prototypes fabricated from state-of the art European PV cells (PERC based and Heterojunction solar cells).

These integrated cells shall demonstrate a gain in power conversion efficiency, thus opening up a new technological area, which will help deliver both economic, societal and environmental benefits.