Near-infrared downconversion in Y(1-x)YbxVO4 for sensitization of c-Si solar cells

The material YVO4 provide suitable environment as host lattice for Yb3+ ion. The materials Y(1-x)YbxVO4 were successfully synthesized by co-precipitation method varying the concentration of Yb3+ ions from 0 mol% to 2.0 mol% and annealed at high temperature. It was characterize by powder X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and surface morphology was studied by scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The photoluminescence (PL) properties were studied by spectrophotometers in near infra red (NIR) and ultra violet visible (UV-vis) region. The Yb3+ ion doped YVO4 phosphors that can convert a photon of UV region (318 nm) into two photons of NIR region (992 nm). Hence this phosphor could be used as a downconversion (DC) luminescent convertor in front of crystalline silicon solar cell (c-Si) panels to reduce thermalization loss of the solar cell. The theoretical value of quantum efficiency (QE) was calculated from steady time decay measurement and the maximum efficiency approached up to 162.53%. The Y(1-x)YbxVO4 can be potentiality used for betterment of photovoltaic (PV) technology. This result further indicates its potential application as a luminescence converter layer for enhancing solar cells performance. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.