Use of doped-YAG nanoparticles as down-converters for Photovoltaics

Increasing solar cell efficiency by using spectral conversion is addressed in this article. To that purpose rare-earth doped YAG nanoparticles exhibiting down-conversion and quantum cutting properties have been prepared. These nanoparticles have been synthesized with different concentrations of dopants in order to optimize the luminescence and the quantum cutting efficiency. Results on the incorporation of selected material into the encapsulating layer of c-Si based PV-modules are also presented. The effect of down-conversion has been demonstrated through the increase of photocurrent of encapsulated silicon solar cells.