Célula solar baseada em junção Schottky grafeno/silício atuando com alta eficiência de conversão de energia

Abstract

Solar cells based on Schottky junction made of graphene/silicon have aroused the interest of researchers over the past few years. The substitution of metal for graphene has made these devices promising candidates for the development of several new technologies for high efficiency and low-cost solar cells. In the referred work, a solar cell based on Schottky junction made up of graphene/silicon in a reverse contact configuration was presented, acting with high energy conversion efficiency. By increasing the potential barrier, a reduction in the saturation current of the diode was obtained, increasing the conversion efficiency of the device, which can reach up to 26.69%, being able to compete with the current silicon cells on the market. Through mathematical modeling and with the aid of the Matlab software, we perform simulations to ascertain the main characteristics of the proposed solar cell. The equation that describes the behavior of the current supplied to the external circuit as a function of the voltage was solved using the Lambert W function. In addition to high conversion efficiency, the device presented also enables a simpler manufacturing process, being a great alternative for replacing mono and polycrystalline silicon cells, which generally have a complex manufacturing process. A survey was also carried out of the main electrical and optical properties of graphene, as well as of the main technologies studied in solar cells of Schottky junction graphene/silicon already existing in the literature.