Physicists have made a significant breakthrough in solar cell technology by developing a new analytical model that improves the understanding and efficiency of thin-film photovoltaic devices.
These thin-film solar cells, made of flexible, low-cost materials have had limited efficiency due to factors that the existing analytical models couldn't fully explain. "The traditional models just weren't capturing the whole picture, especially for these thin-film cells with low-mobility semiconductors," explained the principal investigator, Associate Professor Ardalan Armin of Swansea University."Our new study addresses this gap by introducing a new diode equation specifically tailored to account for these crucial injected carriers and their recombination with those photogenerated.