Unconventional Technology for Solar Electricity

The major losses in present day solar cells stem from a mismatch between the solar spectrum and the bandgap of the cells used, i.e. an inability to make good use of both low energy and high energy photons. Here we propose a strategy for productive use of the entire solar spectrum by tuning the photon energies to the requirements of specific solar energy conversion materials, using molecules associated to nanoparticles. This solar electricity research is scientifically very challenging but has the potential to boost the efficiency of any existing solar cell technology. The strategy is based on two highly complementary physical processes: the experimentally and theoretically firmly established processes singlet fission (SF) and sensitized triplet-triplet annihilation up-conversion (TTA-UC).