According to an announcement from Natcore, a team led by Professor Andrew Barron has managed to encapsulate silicon quantum dots with a uniform coating of silicon dioxide, which is seen as an important step toward the goal of creating a super efficient tandem solar cell.
The coating process involved Rice's patented liquid phase deposition process, for which Natcore holds an exclusive worldwide license.
"This is a huge step toward a super-efficient solar cell. By encapsulating QDs in silicon dioxide, we hope to be able to stack them, much like ping-pong balls in a box. The resulting array promises to make a silicon tandem cell possible. We're now working aggressively toward that goal," said Chuck Provini, CEO of Natcore.
The technology has the potential to create solar cells with efficiency rates above 30 percent. This is particularly significant because this is nearly double the efficiency boasted by many solar panels currently on the market.
