Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules

To improve the efficiency of conventional silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells, silicon is being replaced by graphene material which not only reduces the reflectance of solar energy but also supports full spectrum solar coverage. In this design, both n-type and p-type silicon layers in the PV cell are re...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mansi Rana, Preetika Sharma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Chemical Physics Impact
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667022425000295
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832582082005565440
author Mansi Rana
Preetika Sharma
author_facet Mansi Rana
Preetika Sharma
author_sort Mansi Rana
collection DOAJ
description To improve the efficiency of conventional silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells, silicon is being replaced by graphene material which not only reduces the reflectance of solar energy but also supports full spectrum solar coverage. In this design, both n-type and p-type silicon layers in the PV cell are replaced by doped graphene layers. Nitrogen (N) doped graphene in n-type layer and boron (B) doped graphene in p-type layer are incorporated as n-type and p-type layer in PV cell. N-type materials enhance the conductivity of a semiconductor by increasing the number of available electrons while p-type materials increase conductivity by increasing the number of holes present in the semiconductor. This structure is then studied for its electronic properties such as band structure (BS), density of states (DOS), projected density of states (PDOS) and geometrical stability using density functional theory (DFT) implemented in Quantum ATK (Synopsis) (P-2019.03-SP). Additionally, its potential for high power conversion efficiency (ŋ), fill factor (FF), and maximum power output (Pmax) is evaluated using the one-diode model in MATLAB. The results obtained are varied for changes in temperature (T) and solar irradiance (G). For instance, at T = 25 °C and G = 1000 W/m², conventional silicon PV cells achieve a maximum power output (Pmax) of 233.8066 W, fill factor (FF) of 76.04 %, and η of 19.21 %. In contrast with graphene based PV cell, a Pmax of 258.9621 W, FF of 84.62 % and η of 21.29 % are obtained. It can be concluded that graphene in layers of a PV cell can act as an ideal energy conversion system to promote various optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and photodetectors.
format Article
id doaj-art-2bd430ef41624f778434a51fe132fab7
institution Kabale University
issn 2667-0224
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Chemical Physics Impact
spelling doaj-art-2bd430ef41624f778434a51fe132fab72025-01-30T05:15:09ZengElsevierChemical Physics Impact2667-02242025-06-0110100841Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modulesMansi Rana0Preetika Sharma1UIET, Panjab University, Chandigarh, IndiaCorresponding author.; UIET, Panjab University, Chandigarh, IndiaTo improve the efficiency of conventional silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells, silicon is being replaced by graphene material which not only reduces the reflectance of solar energy but also supports full spectrum solar coverage. In this design, both n-type and p-type silicon layers in the PV cell are replaced by doped graphene layers. Nitrogen (N) doped graphene in n-type layer and boron (B) doped graphene in p-type layer are incorporated as n-type and p-type layer in PV cell. N-type materials enhance the conductivity of a semiconductor by increasing the number of available electrons while p-type materials increase conductivity by increasing the number of holes present in the semiconductor. This structure is then studied for its electronic properties such as band structure (BS), density of states (DOS), projected density of states (PDOS) and geometrical stability using density functional theory (DFT) implemented in Quantum ATK (Synopsis) (P-2019.03-SP). Additionally, its potential for high power conversion efficiency (ŋ), fill factor (FF), and maximum power output (Pmax) is evaluated using the one-diode model in MATLAB. The results obtained are varied for changes in temperature (T) and solar irradiance (G). For instance, at T = 25 °C and G = 1000 W/m², conventional silicon PV cells achieve a maximum power output (Pmax) of 233.8066 W, fill factor (FF) of 76.04 %, and η of 19.21 %. In contrast with graphene based PV cell, a Pmax of 258.9621 W, FF of 84.62 % and η of 21.29 % are obtained. It can be concluded that graphene in layers of a PV cell can act as an ideal energy conversion system to promote various optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and photodetectors.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667022425000295B/N Doped graphenePhotovoltaic cellPower conversion efficiencyFill factor
spellingShingle Mansi Rana
Preetika Sharma
Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
Chemical Physics Impact
B/N Doped graphene
Photovoltaic cell
Power conversion efficiency
Fill factor
title Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
title_full Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
title_fullStr Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
title_full_unstemmed Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
title_short Improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
title_sort improving photovoltaic performance through doped graphene heterostructure modules
topic B/N Doped graphene
Photovoltaic cell
Power conversion efficiency
Fill factor
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667022425000295
work_keys_str_mv AT mansirana improvingphotovoltaicperformancethroughdopedgrapheneheterostructuremodules
AT preetikasharma improvingphotovoltaicperformancethroughdopedgrapheneheterostructuremodules