Selectively transparent and conducting photonic crystal rear-contacts for thin-film silicon-based building integrated photovoltaics

Wave-optics analysis is performed to show that selectively transparent and conducting photonic crystals (STCPCs) can be utilized as rear contacts to enhance the performance of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). For instance, the current generated in an a-Si: H cell with an STCPC functioning as its rear contact is comparable to that of a similar cell with an optimized ZnO/Ag rear contact. However, the solar lumens (similar to 3.5 klm/m(2)) and power (similar to 430W/m(2)) transmitted through the cell with the STCPC rear contact can potentially provide indoor heating and lighting, respectively. Moreover, experimental results show that STCPC rear contacts could be used to control the color temperature of light transmitted through BIPV panels. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America