A solar cell includes elements, a connecting portion, and a transparent portion. The elements include first and second elements arrayed in a first direction. The transparent portion is located between the connecting portion and the second element. Each of the elements includes first and second electrode layers and a semiconductor layer interposed between the first and second electrode layers. Between the first element and the second element, their first electrode layers sandwich a first gap and their second electrode layers sandwich a second gap shifted in the first direction from the first gap. The connecting portion electrically connects the second electrode layer of the first element to the first electrode layer of the second element. The transparent portion is located between the second electrode layer of the first element and the first electrode layer of the second element at a position shifted in the first direction from the connecting portion.

A solar cell system is formed with a dynamic surface relief grating. Movement members are actuated by a controller to produce a force on the reflective surface. The reflective surface deforms in response to the force creating a surface relief grating that can adapt to changing light conditions.

A dye-sensitized solar cell can include a plurality of a plasmon-forming nanostructures. The plasmon-forming nanostructures can include an oxide core, an inner metallic shell on a surface of the oxide core, and an outer oxide shell on a surface of the inner metallic shell.

The present invention relates to a method comprising the steps of: culturing benthic pennate diatoms in an industrial biofilm process, wherein in said industrial biofilm process said benthic pennate diatoms are growing on at least one surface in a water-comprising compartment and wherein said benthic pennate diatoms forms a biofilm on said at least one surface; harvesting said benthic pennate diatoms from said at least one surface; and extracting said frustules by separating said frustules from organic biomass comprised in said benthic pennate diatoms.

A three-tandem (3T) perovskite/silicon (PVT)-based tandem solar cell (TSC) includes an antireflection coating (ARC), a first transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO), a hole transport layer (HTL), a perovskite (PVT) layer, a second transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO), an electron transport layer (ETL), a plurality of buried contacts, a p-type Si layer, a p-type wafer-based homo-junction silicon solar cell, a n.sup.+ silicon layer, a back contact layer. The solar cell further includes a top sub-cell, a bottom sub-cell and a middle contact-based tandem. The top sub-cell includes the PVT layer. The bottom sub-cell includes the silicon solar cell. The middle contact-based tandem includes the second TCO layer to be used as the middle contact-based tandem, as well as a recombination layer for current collection. Further, a conduction and a valence band edge are employed at a front surface of the ETL.

A three-tandem (3T) perovskite/silicon (PVT)-based tandem solar cell (TSC) includes an antireflection coating (ARC), a first transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO), a hole transport layer (HTL), a perovskite (PVT) layer, a second transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO), an electron transport layer (ETL), a plurality of buried contacts, a p-type Si layer, a p-type wafer-based homo-junction silicon solar cell, a n.sup.+ silicon layer, a back contact layer. The solar cell further includes a top sub-cell, a bottom sub-cell and a middle contact-based tandem. The top sub-cell includes the PVT layer. The bottom sub-cell includes the silicon solar cell. The middle contact-based tandem includes the second TCO layer to be used as the middle contact-based tandem, as well as a recombination layer for current collection. Further, a conduction and a valence band edge are employed at a front surface of the ETL.

An organic compound, a three-dimensional organic structure formed by using the organic compound, a separation sieve and an optical layer having the organic structure, and an optical device having the optical layer as an optical amplification layer are provided. The organic structure includes a plurality of organic molecules self-assembled by non-covalent bonding. Each of the unit organic molecules has an aromatic ring, a first pair of substituents being connected to immediately adjacent positions of substitutable positions of the aromatic ring, and a second pair of substituents being connected to immediately adjacent positions of remaining substitutable positions of the aromatic ring. The unit organic molecules are self-assembled by van der Waals interaction, London dispersion interaction or hydrogen bonding between the first and the second pairs of the substituents and by pi-pi interactions between the aromatic rings.

A three-tandem (3T) perovskite/silicon (PVT)-based tandem solar cell (TSC) includes an antireflection coating (ARC), a first transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO), a hole transport layer (HTL), a perovskite (PVT) layer, a second transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO), an electron transport layer (ETL), a plurality of buried contacts, a p-type Si layer, a p-type wafer-based homo-junction silicon solar cell, a n.sup.+ silicon layer, a back contact layer. The solar cell further includes a top sub-cell, a bottom sub-cell and a middle contact-based tandem. The top sub-cell includes the PVT layer. The bottom sub-cell includes the silicon solar cell. The middle contact-based tandem includes the second TCO layer to be used as the middle contact-based tandem, as well as a recombination layer for current collection. Further, a conduction and a valence band edge are employed at a front surface of the ETL.

The present invention is a dye-sensitized solar cell that has a pair of electrodes that oppose each other, a sealing section that joins the pair of electrodes, an electrolyte that fills a cell space that is surrounded by the pair of electrodes and the sealing section, wherein the sealing section has a resin sealing section that contains a resin, the resin sealing section has a changing-thickness section, the thickness of which increases or decreases as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and which has an inclined face, and the resin sealing section comes into contact, along the inclined face of the changing-thickness section, with an electrode of the pair of electrodes that opposes the inclined face.

There are provided a photoelectric conversion element and a photoelectric conversion element module including the photoelectric conversion element, the photoelectric conversion element including a transparent substrate, a first and second transparent conductive layer arranged on the transparent substrate, a photoelectric conversion layer arranged on the first transparent conductive layer, a porous insulating layer covering the photoelectric conversion layer, a reflective layer arranged on the porous insulating layer, and a counter conductive layer that are arranged on the reflective layer, in which the photoelectric conversion layer contains a porous semiconductor, a carrier-transport material, and a photosensitizer, and in which an area of the orthogonal projection of the porous insulating layer onto the transparent substrate and an area of the orthogonal projection of the reflective layer onto the transparent substrate are each larger than an area of the orthogonal projection of the photoelectric conversion layer onto the transparent substrate.