Supervisor: Brian Julsgaard

One crucial factor in solving the current climate crisis, is the reduction of our energy production relying on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. As the global energy consumption is expected to continue its increasing trend, we have to transition to renewable energy sources in order to achieve this. The renewable energy technology, that have showed the most rapid reduction in price per energy produced in the recent decade, is solar cells, which are now, in some cases, cost-competitive with fossil fuels. In this talk I will explore the current state of solar cells as well as some of the emerging technologies. The talk will begin with a brief introduction to the working principles of solar cells, followed by discussing a theoretical limit to the efficiency reachable for solar cells. This will serve as a reference when exploring current and emerging technologies, including organic and quantum dot solar cells, and look into whether there are ways to surpass this limit.