An apparatus and method for producing a perpetual energy harvester which harvests ambient near ultraviolet to infrared radiation and provides continual power regardless of the environment. The device seeks to harvest the largely overlooked blackbody radiation through use of a semiconductor thermal harvester, providing a continuous source of power. Additionally, increased power output is provided through a solar harvester. The solar and thermal harvesters are physically connected but electrically isolated. Perpetual energy harvester as mentioned in this invention is interpreted to mean an energy harvester which is configured to harvest energy during day and/or night and/or light and/or dark.

An apparatus and method for producing a perpetual energy harvester which harvests ambient near ultraviolet to infrared radiation and provides continual power regardless of the environment. The device seeks to harvest the largely overlooked blackbody radiation through use of a semiconductor thermal harvester, providing a continuous source of power. Additionally, increased power output is provided through a solar harvester. The solar and thermal harvesters are physically connected but electrically isolated. Perpetual energy harvester as mentioned in this invention is interpreted to mean an energy harvester which is configured to harvest energy during day and/or night and/or light and/or dark.

Semiconductor light absorption devices such as multi junction photovoltaic cells include a chirped distributed Bragg reflector beneath a junction. The chirped distributed Bragg reflector provides a high reflectivity over a broad range of wavelengths and has improved angular tolerance so as to provide increased absorption within an overlying junction over a broader range of wavelengths and incident angles.

Semiconductor light absorption devices such as multi junction photovoltaic cells include a chirped distributed Bragg reflector beneath a junction. The chirped distributed Bragg reflector provides a high reflectivity over a broad range of wavelengths and has improved angular tolerance so as to provide increased absorption within an overlying junction over a broader range of wavelengths and incident angles.

The present disclosure relates to a silicon/perovskite tandem solar cell and a preparation method thereof and belongs to the technical field of perovskite tandem cells. The silicon/perovskite tandem solar cell includes a silicon bottom cell and a perovskite top cell, in which a seed crystal silicon layer and a tunneling layer are sequentially arranged between a surface of the silicon bottom cell and a bottom surface of the perovskite top cell, the seed crystal silicon layer being adjacent to the silicon bottom cell, and the tunneling layer being adjacent to the perovskite top cell. Here, the seed crystal silicon layer is an amorphous silicon layer, and the tunneling layer is a doped microcrystalline silicon oxide layer. The cell facilitates the tunneling between the silicon bottom cell and the perovskite top cell, thereby improving the open circuit voltage and the conversion efficiency of the cell.

A photovoltaic system comprises a photovoltaic cell, a substrate, and a light-conversion layer. The photovoltaic cell converts incident light into electricity and is responsive to a range of frequencies of incident light that is less than all frequencies of the incident light. The substrate is disposed between the photovoltaic cell and the incident light so that the incident light passes through the substrate to illuminate the photovoltaic cell. The light-conversion layer is disposed on the substrate so that incident light illuminates the light-conversion layer and the light-conversion layer converts a broad frequency band of incident light outside the range to light within the range and is emitted toward the photovoltaic cell to illuminate the photovoltaic cell with converted light.

A photovoltaic diode comprising an emitter layer of doped Group III-V semiconductor material, having a first conductivity type and a first bandgap in at least part of the layer, an intrinsic layer of dilute nitride Group III-V semiconductor material having a composition given by the formula Ga.sub.1-zIn.sub.zN.sub.xAs.sub.ySb.sub.1-x-y, where 0<z<0.20, 0.01<x<0.05, and y>0.80 having a second bandgap, a base layer of semiconductor material having a third bandgap and a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type. The emitter, intrinsic and base layers form a diode junction. The first bandgap is greater than the second bandgap.

A photovoltaic diode comprising an emitter layer of doped Group III-V semiconductor material, having a first conductivity type and a first bandgap in at least part of the layer, an intrinsic layer of dilute nitride Group III-V semiconductor material having a composition given by the formula Ga.sub.1-zIn.sub.zN.sub.xAs.sub.ySb.sub.1-x-y, where 0<z<0.20, 0.01<x<0.05, and y>0.80 having a second bandgap, a base layer of semiconductor material having a third bandgap and a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type. The emitter, intrinsic and base layers form a diode junction. The first bandgap is greater than the second bandgap.

A method for forming a photovoltaic device includes providing a substrate. A layer is deposited to form one or more layers of a photovoltaic stack on the substrate. The depositing of the amorphous layer includes performing a high power flash deposition for depositing a first portion of the layer. A low power deposition is performed for depositing a second portion of the layer.

A multilayer structure for photovoltaic applications includes a n-type high-work function transition metal oxide (TMO) layer deposited on a support structure, a thin n-type low-work function transition metal oxide (TMO) layer covering the n-type high-work function TMO layer, and a first absorber cell based on a perovskite material on the n-type low-work function TMO layer, the n-type high-work function TMO layer and the thin n-type low-work function TMO layer forming a hole-selective contact structure.