Strong efficiency improvements in ultra-low-cost inorganic nanowire solar cells.

TLDR: Low-cost, non-toxic, inorganic solar cell technologies have received comparatively little attention but have both the potential for annual electricity production in excess of worldwide demand and material extraction costs less than that of crystalline silicon.

Abstract: The need for sustainable power generation has encouraged research into a variety of photovoltaic materials and structures, with a greater emphasis being placed on a balance between performance and cost. The stability of many semiconducting oxides relative to other inexpensive solar cell technologies, such as organic [ 1 ] and dye-sensitized [ 2 ] cells, makes them an attractive alternative. Yet low-cost, non-toxic, inorganic solar cell technologies have received comparatively little attention. In a recent report, nine inorganic semiconductors were identifi ed as having both the potential for annual electricity production in excess of worldwide demand and material extraction costs less than that of crystalline silicon. [ 3 ] Further to materials costs, a recent study examined the high cost of modern vacuum deposition methods and highlighted the need for low-temperature, atmospheric, solution-based synthesis. [ 4 ] Solution-based synthesis of several of the nine, promising inorganic materials has been demonstrated previously. [ 5–7 ] Copper (I) oxide (Cu 2 O), in particular, has been synthesized extensively in polycrystalline form by electrodeposition from solutions near room temperature. [ 5 , 8 , 9 ]