Silicon nanowires by metal-assisted chemical etching and its incorporation into hybrid solar cells

Abstract

The rapid increase in global energy demand in recent decades coupled with the adverse environmental impact of conventional fuels has led to a high demand for alternative energy sources that are sustainable and efficient. Renewable solar energy technologies have received huge attention in recent decades with the aim of producing highly efficient, safe, flexible and robust solar cells to withstand harsh weather conditions. c-Si has been the material of choice in the development of conventional inorganic solar cells owing to it superior properties, abundance and higher efficiencies. However, the associated high costs of Si processing for solar cells have led to a gravitation towards alternative organic solar cells which are cheaper and easy to process even though they suffer from stability and durability challenges. In this work, combination of both inorganic and organic materials to form hybrid solar cells is one of the approaches adopted in order to address the challenges faced by solar cell development.