Mg2SiO4:Er3+ Coating for Efficiency Increase of Silicon-Based Commercial Solar Cells

Efficiency record commercial silicon solar panels convert about 25% of the sunlight into energy while the vast majority of conventional panels convert between 15% and 16%. The main factors of energy loss are the loss by light reflection on the cell surface and the loss by the energy emitted in the UV and IR band which is directly transmitted and/or converted to heat without being harnessed by the cell. To reduce these losses, it is proposed the use of rare earth doped Mg2SiO4 films. Preliminary absorption and emission tests for up and down conversion have indicated that the use of Mg2SiO4:Er3+, as a cell coating generates the conversion of IR energy into VIS energy, allowing the solar cell to use this energy. The presented forsterite films antireflection property, together with the erbium upconversion properties, indicates the Mg2SiO4:Er3+ as promising to increase the commercial silicon-based solar cells efficiency.