Maximizing the efficiency of renewable energy technology is dependent on creating nanoparticles with ideal dimensions and density, new simulations have shown.

Quantum dots, human-made nanocrystals 100,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper, can be used as light sensitisers, absorbing infrared and visible light and transferring it to other molecules.

This could enable new types of solar panels to capture more of the light spectrum and generate more electrical current, through a process of ‘light fusion’ known as photochemical upconversion.

The researchers, from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, used lead sulfide quantum dots in their example. The algorithm is free to access and their results have been published in the journal Nanoscale.

Significantly, existing upconversion results achieved by test devices used organic sensitisers that do not work with silicon solar cells — currently the most commonly available type of photovoltaics technology — due to their inability to absorb much of the infrared part of the light spectrum.

Using the right size and density of lead sulfide quantum dots as sensitisers would not only lead to efficiency increases but also be compatible with nearly all existing and planned solar cell technology.

Story Source: Materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.