Efficient color coatings for single junction and multijunction colored solar cells

TL;DR

This study investigates various color coatings for solar cells, identifying spectrum parameters affecting efficiency, and demonstrates that cellulose nanocrystal coatings can produce bright colors while retaining up to 83% of the original power output.

Contribution

The paper introduces cellulose nanocrystal-based structural color coatings that enhance aesthetic appeal without significantly compromising solar cell efficiency.

Findings

Structural colors yield high brightness to color loss ratio.

Cellulose nanocrystal coatings maintain up to 83% of original power.

Multijunction cells are more affected by narrow reflection peaks.

Abstract

Colored solar cells suffer from lower efficiency due to reflection and absorption losses by coatings. By studying different types of coatings on solar cells, the spectrum parameters impacting the solar cell efficiency were identified. A collection of color coatings was fabricated and characterized using spectrophotometry and colorimetric photography. The coatings include commercial absorption filters, commercial distributed bragg reflectors, lab-made interference coatings, and cellulose nanocrystal coatings. Commercial single junction and multijunction solar cells were used to measure the impact of the color coatings on solar cell performance. Structural colors were found to result in the highest brightness to color loss ratio. Structural colors do not fade provided that the structure is not compromised. Color loss in single junction solar cells is a result of the proportion of reflected light in the absorption range of the material. Multijunction solar cells were strongly affected by current mismatch losses, where narrow reflection peaks resulted in high efficiency losses. Structural color coatings made using cellulose nanocrystals exhibited low and broad reflection peaks that produced bright colors and maintained high performance of single junction and multijunction solar cells, retaining up to 83 % of the reference power obtained in the absence of a color coating.