Magnolia
Optical Technologies and Dr. Roger Welser of the Kopin Corporation have
announced their co-development of indium nitride-based quantum dot
solar cells for NASA and defense applications. Magnolia and Kopin have
carried out successful collaborative development of GaN-based materials
in the past. The aim of the current research is to develop
high-performance solar cells that can withstand such conditions as can
be encountered in use in situations such as NASA space exploration and
other defense applications.
“Quantum effects in nanostructured materials enable new innovative device concepts that can radically enhance the operation of traditional semiconductor devices,” said Dr. Ashok Sood, President of Magnolia. “For example, a larger fraction of the solar spectrum can be harnessed while maximizing the solar cell operating voltage by using quantum wells and quantum dots embedded in a higher band gap barrier material. Nanostructured devices thus provide a means to decouple the usual dependence of short circuit current on open circuit voltage that limits conventional solar cell design. Ultra-high conversion efficiencies are predicted for solar cells that collect both low and high energy photons from the solar spectrum while maintaining high voltage operation.”
By Síle Mc Mahon
