Photo-thermovoltaics

Abstract

The other and more common strategy for harvesting energy from heat and light is to use PVC devices (see the previous chapter on light harvesting). The PVC devices are very well documented and constitute a mature technology that utilizes solar cells which the reader can access in the literature and books and buy in shops. The problem with current PVC technology is that it is mostly geared to the harvesting of shorter-wavelength region of the sun’s spectrum; see Fig. 12.32. Silicon is currently still the typical and best material class; the lowest-energy photons collected have energies around 1 eV or 1.2 μm (Figs. 13.1 and 13.2, 13.3).