Photovoltaic devices all function to convert some incoming portion of the electro-magnetic (E-M) spectrum into electric current and voltage output. In a solar cell, the objective is the conversion of impinging sunlight into electrical power for driving heating, cooling, lighting, motion, or chemical reactions. In a thermal photovoltaic device, the objective is conversion of radiation emitted by a hot, power-storing material into electrical power. For a retinomorphic photovoltaic device, the objective is conversion of the frequency and spatial information in incoming light into electrical output, ultimately resulting in machine vision as well as intercession in human vision afflictions. This Third Edition of Prof. Stephen Fonash’s major handbook – previously Solar Cell Physics – is now titled Photovoltaic Device Physics and Materials: Solar Cell, Energy Management, and Retinomorphic Structures, and reflects the intense attention and rapid developments of recent years, and stresses that the physics behind these three photovoltaics applications is the same, while the device structure designs and materials used to optimally implement this physics varies. These variations come from the differences in the incoming spectra, the materials utilized, and differences in the concomitant light trapping required. The importance of the materials utilized requires their extensive examination and exploration of emerging inorganics including perovskites, organics, and 2-D materials. An additional consideration that is addressed is device planar extent, which varies with device application.
This thoroughly revised and expanded text is a valuable resource for students and researchers looking to learn about photovoltaic or solar cell devices, as well as faculty, engineers, R&D, government and industry labs, and medical facilities.
- Classic text (previously ‘Solar Cell Physics’) updated with new advances in devices and materials, including 2-D nanofilms, semiconductor nanowires, and thin film organics and perovskites
- Underscores that photovoltaic device physics and materials advances are applicable to several fields from engineering to medicine
- Covers important theoretical points accompanied by concrete demonstrations using simulations created with the author’s well-known AMPS computer code
