Objective

• To develop roll to roll compatible scheme to fabricate regular arrays of nanostructures
• To utilize regular array of nanostructures to improve photovoltaic performance
• To develop flexible solar cells with low cost metal substrates

Approach

• The nanostructure fabrication involves nanoimprint and low cost electrochemical anodization of aluminum
• Thin film photovoltaic material is deposited on Al substrate to demonstrate the effectiveness
• The performance of the devices are characterized with electrical, optical measurements coupled with device modeling.

Impact

• This project has demonstrated that three dimensional nanoarchetectures can be fabricated at large scale with a low cost approach.
• These fabricated nanostructures have demonstrated their effectiveness on improve device photovoltaic performance.
• The measurement and device modeling for the first time revealing a set of systematic design guidelines for high performance nanostructured solar cells.
• The results show that large scale production of nanostructured solar cells is viable. They can be used for a variety of applications, including portable electronics, building-integrated photovotaics, etc.
• In addition, the developed nanostructures can be also utilized for other energy related applications, such as energy storage, due to their large surface area.

Contact

Prof Zhiyong Fan
Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering
Email: eezfan@ust.hk