Nanopillars Increase Solar Cell Efficiency

Nov-27-15 By making the wiring on top of solar cells practically invisible to light, Stanford scientists have found a way to boost the efficiency of solar cells significantly.

The team created the “covert contacts” by layering a thin film of gold metal perforated with an array of nanoholes on top of a sheet of silicon. The layered film was then submerged in a hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen peroxide solution, which caused the gold to sink into the silicon substrate as silicon nanopillars rose up through the holes. These nanopillars funneled light into the holes and to the metal grid, increasing the light collection properties of the material and reducing reflection loss to just three percent.

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