A monolithic all-silicon multi-junction solar device for direct water splitting

S. Nordmann, B. Berghoff, A. Hessel, N. Wilck, B. Osullivan, M. Debucquoy, J. John, S. Starschich and J. Knoch

Renewable Energy, 2016, vol. 94, issue C, 90-95

Abstract: We present a silicon-based, monolithic multi-junction solar device that is suitable for the sustainable and reliable production of hydrogen. It is based on an interdigitated back-contact (IBC) solar cell which is modified, so that the p- and n-regions are connected in a combination of series and parallel connections, which triples the photovoltage compared to a single-junction cell. Thus, it provides a potential larger than the water redox potential of 1.23 V plus over-potentials at the electrodes. We fabricated a working demonstrator with an open-circuit voltage of 1.81 V and a short-circuit current density of 12.2 mA/cm2. The processing can be integrated in an existing IBC cell line with one additional fabrication step and a modified contact layout. Coupled to a 1 M H2SO4 electrolysis system, with Pt and RuO2 electrodes, our device shows a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 8%. In contrast to existing solutions, which are based on external series connections, it does not suffer from ohmic losses and holds the potential to reach 16.6%.

Keywords: Monolithic; Silicon; Multi-junction; Solar water-splitting; Photovoltaic electrolysis (PV-E) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:94:y:2016:i:c:p:90-95

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.03.050

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