New tandem solar cells III-V

Silicon solar cells dominate the commercial PV industry, but the highest performance solar cells consist of multiple compounds of “III-V” materials (multi-junction solar cells, opens in a new window). A key barrier for III-V materials is cost, both in terms of fabrication, and the platform. In the III-V on Silicon group, we are working to combine the performance advantages of III-V materials with the cost advantages of a Silicon platform. 

Integrating the high efficiency silicon solar cell designs and processes developed at UNSW with the high quality deposited III-V materials from our collaborators at Ohio State University will enable more cost-effective high-performance solar cells. Already our work has led to two world record devices with more improvements expected in the near future.