FUTURESOL

Rare earth-based coating technology to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells by converting UV waves to visible light.

The aim of the project is to commercialize rare earth-based coating technology to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells by converting UV waves to visible light. The technology is based on natural, environmentally friendly raw materials. Thanks to the photocatalytic properties of the coatings, it will be possible to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, which can have a significant impact on the development of sustainable renewable energy.

The biggest problem with the limited performance of solar cells is the mismatch between the spectral response of the cell and the radiation of the solar spectrum. With our solution, it is possible to absorb UV radiation which is not fully utilized by the photovoltaic panel and shift it to visible light radiation which is effectively utilized by the cell.

In our research, we used down-conversion and down-shifting methods. In the down-conversion method, one photon of higher energy is converted into two identical photons of the same energy. In the down-conversion method, a photon of higher energy is converted to a photon of lower energy.