Panchromatic light harvesting by dye- and quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

A PbS:Hg quantum dots-sensitized solar cell (QDSC) combined with a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) to harvest panchromatic solar spectrum from the visible light to the near IR is demonstrated. We use the filter to split the solar energy and access the total conversion efficiency. The DSC performing 12.4% under AM1.5G sunlight was able to generate 9.1% with a short-wave pass filter cutting off photons of wavelength longer than 650 nm. On the other hand, QDSC performing 5.58% generated 3.42% with the use of a long-wave pass filter transmitting beyond 630 nm. Calculated on the basis of transmitted light, DSC and QDSC performed 24.0% and 5.90%, leading to almost 13.1% of estimated total power conversion efficiency by harvesting the solar energy from visible light to the NIR. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.