Stefen Fischer has been awarded the Best Student Presentation Award at the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) for his work to increase the efficiency of silicon solar cells.
Fischer’s work uses an upconverter to modify the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to extend how much energy can be derived from the sunlight.
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Upconversion could increase the efficiency of a silicon solar cell from 30% to 40%.
“I am delighted with this award. It has very much encouraged my work,” said Fischer of Fraunhofer ISE. “As the lucky winners, we will continue to work with our partners intensively on upconversion to increase the efficiency of solar cells even further.”
Jan Christoph Goldschmidt, who leads the work at Fraunhofer ISE added: “Especially in the currently tense situation of the photovoltaic industry, research on innovative concepts is particularly important to provide long-term competitiveness in Germany safely.”
Fischer’s method used a powder of microcrystalline Natriumyttriumfluorid, in which a part of yttrium was replaced by erbium. The powder was in turn embedded in a polymer, so that it could be coupled to the solar cell.
The results showed that a “significant” increase in efficiency was possible.