Abstract
Increasing use of clean photovoltaic energy generation is being looked as a key measure to prevent global warming, but with a conversion efficiency of about 15%, solar cells are not yet up to the task. Moreover, the conversion efficiency of solar cells decreases with temperature rise caused by solar infrared radiation, and necessary visible radiation is reduced by 8% with the solar cell's cover glass. In this study we developed and evaluated optical multilayer thin films to reduce the infrared-caused temperature rise and to improve the transmission of visible light to solar cells. The optical multilayer thin films were designed using Essential Macleod simulation software, prepared with radio frequency (RF) sputtering equipment, and their transmission characteristics were evaluated. The in-operation temperature change and the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curves of solar cells were measured with and without the optical multilayer thin films, and the results show that they suppressed the temperature rise and improved efficiency of solar cells.
