Well-aligned single-crystalline silicon nanowire hybrid solar cells on glass

Hybrid solar cells are fabricated on the glass substrate using well-aligned single-crystalline Si nanowires (SiNWs) and poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM). Their key benefits are discussed. The well-aligned SiNWs are fabricated from Si wafer and transferred onto the glass substrate with the P3HT:PCBM. Such SiNWs provide uninterrupted conduction paths for electron transport, enhance the optical absorption to serve as an interesting candidate of the absorber, and increase the surface area for exciton dissociation. Our investigations show that SiNWs are promising for hybrid organic photovoltaic cells with improved performance by increasing the short-circuit current density from 7.17 to 11.61 mA/cm2.