A photoactive layer is used in

solar cells A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

for absorbing light. It can be found in all solar cells, but with different panels the photoactive layer is made of different materials.

Inorganic In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemist ...

layers are made from inorganic materials such as

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...

. The film has a layer arrangement of

electrodes An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials dep ...

and counter electrode with organic layers in between the two. The layer is found underneath the glass, adhesive, and reflection coating, but is the first required part of the cell.

Definition

Photoactive means it can have a

chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the IUPAC nomenclature for organic transformations, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the pos ...

with sunlight and/or

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...

light. Most of the solar cell is photoactive, but the base of the solar cell only conducts electricity after it has been converted. It can also mean that it responds to photons photoelectrically. This can also relate to a physical reaction, but this does not occur within photoactive layers.

Efficiency

Layers that are thicker are sometimes preferred because they can absorb more light. While sometimes thinner ones are preferred for greater efficiency. The light must pass through the

band gap In solid-state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap, is an energy range in a solid where no electronic states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference ( ...

. For this to work the light must have a minimum energy depending on the cell to pass through. Different cells have a different minimum while the light below the minimum passes through the absorber.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Photoactive Layer Solar cells

Definition

Efficiency

See also

References