Black silicon makes solar cells cheaper

A one-step process, created in the Mazur lab, creates a highly antireflective layer for photovoltaics (Technology Review). A simple chemical treatment could replace expensive antireflective solar cell coatings, bringing down the cost of crystalline silicon panels. The treatment, a one-step dip in a chemical bath, creates a highly antireflective layer of black silicon on the surface of silicon wafers, and it would cost just pennies per watt, say researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). They've used it to create black silicon solar cells that match the efficiency of conventional silicon cells on the market.

Black silicon is made by shining a series of very short, very intense laser pulses at a silicon surface in a chamber filled with sulfur-rich gas. The novel material absorbs nearly all light.

Read the full article in Technology Review.

Source: Harvard University