A metallic intermediate band high efficiency solar cell

The theory of a novel type of solar cell is presented that contains a base made of a semiconductor with a metal-like intermediate band (1B), The behavior of the 1B and of the entire cell is studied faking into account photon recycling, that is, the emission of luminescent photons that may be subsequently absorbed The results show that, in ideal conditions, this device is more efficient than the best two-junction series-connected tandem cells. This advantage might be maintained for less ideal cases, Although the material needed to achieve this device is yet unknown, some hints are given in the paper concerning its synthesis. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.