This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is directed towards development of an innovative technology for fabrication of high-efficiency thin film nanocomposite photovoltaic materials and solar cells taking advantage of the recently discovered breakthrough effect of carrier multiplication in nanocrystals. The proposed concept employs smart design of the solar cells providing fast and effective spatial separation of electrons and holes photogenerated in the nanocrystals. The proposed technology solves the challenging problem of modern nanoscience and nanotechnology - the problem of electrical communications with nanoscale objects, such as nanocrystals, nanorods, nanowires, nanotubes, etc. It can be also employed for development of many other nanocomposite optoelectronic devices for numerous commercial and military applications.
The proposed technology has great commercialization market potential. The proposed all-inorganic, high-efficiency, thin film, flexible nanostructured photovoltaic materials and solar cells, which can operate in extreme environments and offer significant mass and volume savings, are ideally suitable for numerous applications, including power generating residential rooftops, power supplies for utility grid, emergency signals and telephones, water pumps, activate switches, battery chargers, residential and commercial lighting, etc.
