Supervisor: Brian Julsgaard

It is of growing relevance to realize innovative photovoltaic systems that integrate into existing and newly constructed buildings without altering their aesthetic appearance or affecting the quality of life of their occupants, converting the facades of urban buildings into energy generation units. Importantly, integrating solar cells ‘invisibly’ into urban environments would facilitate the public acceptance of PV power.

Quantum dots, or semiconducting nanocrystals, are a promising candidate material for achieving multi-coloured and semi-transparent solar cells due to their band gap tunability, which is enabled by the quantum size effect. They are of significant interest due to their potential to be coated on exterior surfaces of urban infrastructures, such as building facades and rooftops, to serve both aesthetic and functional purposes.

Throughout this lecture, the physics behind transparent and colourful solar cells using quantum dots will be explored.