Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2021

Breaking the Wall of Solar Energy Conversion

Frank Dimroth

Engineering & Technology

The nominating institution Fraunhofer ISE on the breakthrough:

Standard solar cells can only convert light of a limited wavelength range optimally while other regions of the sun’s spectrum are not or poorly used. This is mainly influenced by the electronic bandgap of the absorber material. Therefore, the conversion efficiency of solar cells made from one material is limited (around 30%). By combining solar cells with different bandgaps in a tandem cell, the sun spectrum can be used much more effectively. This will be the new generation of photovoltaics.

Tags: Climate change, Energy, Green Tech.

Frank Dimroth

Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems

Dr. Frank Dimroth is head of the department “III-V Photovoltaics and Concentrator Technology” at Fraunhofer ISE in Germany. He joined the institute in 1996 and since worked in the field of photovoltaic energy conversion. His group developed solar cells and PV modules with world record performance based on next generation tandem technologies.

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