Plasmonic solar cells are a type of solar cell that uses plasmons to help convert light into electricity more efficiently. They can have metal nanoparticles or a thin metal film deposited on the solar cell to scatter light through the material. This allows the solar cell to absorb more light and potentially increase efficiency and reduce material costs compared to traditional solar cells. The design varies but commonly uses metal structures to trap light and generate electric fields that excite electrons in the semiconductor to produce a photocurrent.

1. PLASMONIC
SOLAR CELLS

2. WHAT IS PLASMONIC SOLAR CELLS?
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A plasmonic-enhanced solar cell, commonly referred to simply as
plasmonic solar cell, is a type of solar cell (including thin-film,
crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, and other types of cells) that
converts light into electricity with the assistance of plasmons, but
where the photovoltaic effect occurs in another material.

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• Worldwide photovoltaic production capacity at the end of 2015 is
estimated to be about 60 GW and is expected to keep rising. Yet,
there is great demand for increasing the photovoltaic device
efficiency and cutting down the cost of materials, manufacturing,
and installation. Materials and processing represent a large
fraction of the expense.
• Plasmonic properties were developed as a solution for overcoming
the restricted light absorption in the thin film pv devices,
and consequently different plasmonic solar cell types have been
developed.
NEED FOR PLASMONIC SOLAR CELLS

4. DESIGN OF PLASMONIC
SOLAR CELLS
The design for plasmonic-enhanced solar cells varies
depending on the method being used to trap and
scatter light across the surface and through the
material.
◦ Nano particle cells
◦ Metal film cells
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• A common design is to
deposit metal nano-particles
on the top surface of the
surface of the solar cell.
• When light hits these metal
nano-particles at their
surface plasmon resonance,
the light is scattered in many
different directions.
NANOPARTICLE CELLS
• This allows light to travel along the solar cell and bounce between
the substrate and the nano-particles enabling the solar cell to
absorb more light.

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METAL FILM CELLS
• One other type of structure is to have a thin film of silicon and a
thin layer of metal deposited on the lower surface.
• The light will travel through the silicon and generate surface
plasmons on the interface of the silicon and metal.
• This generates electric fields inside of the silicon since electric fields
do not travel very far into metals.
• If the electric field is strong enough, electrons can be moved and
collected to produce a photocurrent.
• The thin film of metal in this design must have nanometer sized
grooves which act as waveguides for the incoming light in order to
excite as many photons in the silicon thin film as possible.

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ADVANTAGES
PLASMONIC SOLAR CELLS
• Increasing light scattering,
• Extending light absorption to longer wavelengths, and
• Transferring the plasmonic energy from the metal to the
semiconductor to excite EHP in the semiconductor.

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DIS-ADVANTAGES
PLASMONIC SOLAR CELLS
• Substrates which are cheaper than silicon, like steel, glass or even
plastic can be used.
• One of the main limitations of thin film solar cells is that they
cannot absorb light as much as the thicker solar cells which are
made from materials having the same absorption coefficient