The project “Nano-Voids in Strained Silicon for Plasmonics” (“NoVoSiP”) aims at exploring the use of nano-voids and nano-dots prepared as plasmonic structures to enhance the efficiency of Si single-crystalline photovoltaic (PV) devices. Fabrication and experimental investigation of plasmonic structures in strained Si/SiGe multilayered structures are being carried out to enhance light harvesting in solar cells via both near-field and far-field effects. The main idea behind the formation of nano-voids and nano-dots in silicon is based on the ability of compressively strained thin SiGe alloy layers, incorporated in a Si matrix during epitaxial growth, to collect small-sized atoms (H, He, C) or vacancies, induced by irradiation. Subsequent thermal treatment results in the formation of nano-voids which are strictly assembled within the strained SiGe layers. The following key processes are used: Molecular beam epitaxy of strained Si/SiGe/Si structures followed by irradiation with light ions (hydrogen, carbon) and rapid thermal treatment. These structures are then used as a template for segregation and self-assembling of metallic or carbon nano-dots. The fundamental investigations of the structural, optical and electronic properties of the strained Si/SiGe layers are carried out with a range of methods for structural, electronic and optical characterization. By placing the nano-voids and nano-dots in a highly doped emitter layer close enough to the p-n-junction that the near-fields will extend into the depletion layer, effects of the near-fields are are expected. This will give a contribution to the electron-hole pair generation, and this will be additional to the far field effects. Being formed periodically, strained layers with self-assembled nano-voids or nano-dots are expected to exhibit fundamentally unusual electronic and optical properties. These effects have not been previously experimentally studied in a solar cell configuration. The present system offers a unique configuration for such investigation.