Qifan’s review on semitransparent PV technologies for electricity harvesting windows went online in Energy & Environmental Science

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Semi-transparent photovoltaic (ST-PV) technologies can be applied to replace facades and roofs in conventional buildings and coatings on vehicles to produce energy from sunlight. The current ST-PV technology is Si-based, but although Si achieves adequate efficiencies, it compromises on aesthetic appeal; its color is intrinsically difficult to tune. However, this presents an opportunity for semi-transparent polymer and perovskite-based PV, the optical properties of which can be modulated easily by tuning its material compositions. In this review article, we summarize recent progress made in the material selection, optical engineering and device architecture design for high-performance, semi-transparent polymer and perovskite solar cells and discuss challenges for the commercialization of these semitransparent solar cells for power-generating applications in windows.

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee00154e#!divAbstract