Collecting Light - Enhancement of solar cell performance by lanthanide-based quantum-cutting

Project funded by Carlsberg Foundation (Internationalisation Fellowships), grant CF22-0718. Participating organisations named by the source: University of Cambridge. Runs n/a to 2025-06-29. Source: OpenAIRE Graph, from the funder's project data (collected by OpenAIRE on 2025-08-01); national funding data, not CORDIS. Abstract given by the source: What? Solar cell optimisation. This project is focused on making molecules to incorporate into silicon-based solar cells to enhance their performance. The incorporated molecules contain combinations of lanthanide metals to facilitate an energy conversion process that ‘cuts’ one high-energy photon to two lower-energy photons – called ‘quantum-cutting’. The inclusion of quantum-cutting components in solar cell technology has the potential to greatly increase the amount of sunlight converted, and thereby the efficiency of the cell. Why? Solar cells have become both an economically and environmentally friendly energy source, but we need important technological advances before solar energy is efficient enough to replace less sustainable sources such as fossil fuels. Depending on the type of solar cell, the maximum conversion of solar energy from sunlight is currently about 25%. In addition, sporadic sunlight exposure means that the energy conversion in the cell needs to be highly efficient to compensate for days with little sun or during the night. A large fraction of the high-energy sunlight is lost because of a spectral mismatch between the absorption region of the cell and the incoming sunlight. By adding a component to the cell to create a better fit with the spectral region of the sunlight, we can make solar cells with higher performance, and thereby optimise the efficiency. How? The project will take place at the University of Cambridge with Professor Dominic Wright, who is an expert in the advanced synthesis methods needed to make the lanthanide-based molecules. I will synthesise new molecules with external components that allow for incorporation into polymer films. The lanthanide-containing polymer film can then be added to a silicon-based solar cell. Here it works as an ‘adapter’ by converting high-energy sunlight to fit with the absorption region of the cell. Additionally, we are collaborating with a solar cell energy company that will be in charge of [shortened; the full text is on the OpenAIRE page]

Original source.

Source: OpenAIRE Graph: projects of national funders, OpenAIRE, from the project data of Carlsberg Foundation. Retrieved 2026-11-02. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph). Selected metadata, adapted presentation; the publisher's record is authoritative. No endorsement by the source is implied. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

AI-assisted summary: The project 'Collecting Light' aims to enhance solar cell performance using lanthanide-based quantum-cutting molecules, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. It is conducted by the University of Cambridge and runs until June 29, 2025. Suggested technology pillar: enabling. Generated by AI from the public source text; it may contain errors and the original source is authoritative.