Study on the efficient PV/TE characteristics of the self-assembled thin films based on bismuth telluride/cadmium telluride

Raman, Vivekanandan and Punnoose, Dinah and Baraneedharan, Pari and Rao, Sunkara Srinivasa and Gopi, Chandu V V M and Venkatesh, S and Brahadeeswaran, S and Kim, Hee-Je (2017) Study on the efficient PV/TE characteristics of the self-assembled thin films based on bismuth telluride/cadmium telluride. In: RSC ADVANCES, 7 (11). pp. 6735-6742.

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Abstract

Solar radiation has a spectral distribution ranging from short wavelengths (200-800 nm, visible part) to long wavelengths (800-3000 nm, heat part). Cadmium telluride and bismuth telluride are well known photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric (TE) materials, respectively. CdTe converts light energy into electricity and Bi2Te3 converts heat into electricity. To effectively use the entire solar spectrum for energy conversion, a new type of solar cell based on a Bi2Te3/CdTe composite in a core/shell structure was designed and prepared using a wet chemical method. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy confirmed the formation of Bi2Te3/CdTe in a core/shell structure with high crystallinity. Bi2Te3 nanoparticles function as built-in nanoscale electron generators to convert heat into electricity and CdTe functions as a photovoltaic cell. The efficiency of the thin film solar cell device was found to be 2.5% at room temperature and 4.8% when exposed to sunlight. The combined PV and TE modules resulted in an overall power conversion efficiency of 4.8%.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	RSC ADVANCES
Publisher:	ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY, THOMAS GRAHAM HOUSE, SCIENCE PARK, MILTON RD, CAMBRIDGE CB4 0WF, CAMBS, ENGLAND
Additional Information:	The Copyright for this article belongs to the Royal Society of Chemistry
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	09 Mar 2017 06:21
Last Modified:	01 Jun 2022 06:48
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/56362

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