Researchers deploy supercomputer Hawk to feed on solar cell flaws

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Scientists always try to make things to perfection. But imperfection will now help make solar cells more efficient.

Researchers at the Paderborn University in Germany have spotted some unique defects in the atomic structure of silicon and plan to use them to improve solar cell efficiency. The defects were spotted using the Hawk supercomputer at High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart .are widely used to help countries move away from fossil fuels. Most solar cells are made from silicon, an abundantly available material.

Visualization of the calculated exciton transfer from an upper tetracene layer of a solar cell to the silicon substrate. The electron is shown in blue, and the electron hole in red. Image credit: Surprisingly, the team found that the defects were better for exciton transfer, and the imperfect interface was better than a perfect one. The researchers attribute this to “dangling bonds” in the atomic structure where atoms are not fully bonded to other atoms. It had been assumed that these imperfections led to a drop in inefficiencies. Instead, the team found that it facilitated exciton transfer.

 

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