Improving the UV-light stability of silicon heterojunction solar cells through plasmon-enhanced luminescence downshifting of YVO4:Eu3+, Bi3+nanophosphors decorated with Ag nanoparticles

The ultraviolet (UV) light stability of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells should be addressed before large-scale production and applications. Introducing downshifting (DS) nanophosphors on top of solar cells that can convert UV light to visible light may reduce UV-induced degradation (UVID) without sac-rificing the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Herein, a novel composite DS nanomaterial composed of YVO4:Eu3+,Bi3+ nanoparticles (NPs) and Ag NPs was synthesized and introduced onto the incident light side of industrial SHJ solar cells to achieve UV shielding. The YVO4:Eu3+,Bi3+ NPs and Ag NPs were synthe-sized via a sol-gel method and a wet chemical reduction method, respectively. Then, a composite struc-ture of the YVO4:Eu3+,Bi3+ NPs decorated with Ag NPs was synthesized by an ultrasonic method. The emission intensities of the YVO4:Eu3+,Bi3+ nanophosphors were significantly enhanced upon decoration with an appropriate amount of-20 nm Ag NPs due to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. Upon the introduction of LSPR-enhanced downshifting, the SHJ solar cells exhibited an-0.54% rel-ative decrease in PCE degradation under UV irradiation with a cumulative dose of 45 kW h compared to their counterparts, suggesting excellent potential for application in UV-light stability enhancement of solar cells or modules.(c) 2023 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.