While this project sets the foundation, the overall project has the possibility of informing what materials and nanotube dimensions should be used in photovoltaic devices to achieve efficiencies beyond the bulk limit and current existing solar cells. This serves as a starting point to model even more photovoltaic nanomaterials in the future, eventually being able to meet the goals of modeling CNT-Si core-shells and other radial multilayer geometries. A general increase in efficiency is associated with increases of both diameter and length. The COMSOL simulation has been run for silicon nanowires of diameter 20, 40, 60, and 80 nm, with lengths of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 nm each, showing an increase in the attenuation wavelength of absorption associated with both diameter and length and an overall increase in absorption associated with length. However, due to technical complications, the focus of the project has shifted to perfecting simulation of silicon nanowires, which serve as a benchmark for the overall project. As such, this project set out to model carbon nanotube-silicon (CNT-Si) core-shells using COMSOL Multiphysics on the ROAR supercomputer. The longtime goal of this project is to simulate radial core-shell nanotube geometries, which serve as an alternative approach to the already established vertically stacked solar panels. This project focuses on simulating silicon nanowires interacting with solar radiation in COMSOL Multiphysics with post-processing in MATLAB. Theoretically, increasing surface area using nanostructures allows for an increase in absorption and conversion efficiency. To produce more efficient solar panels and thus lower the dependence on fossil fuels, nanostructures (such as nanotubes and nanowires) are being investigated due to their potential to exceed the efficiency limit of bulk cells. To limit the global dependence on fossil fuels for power, a contributor to the growing climate crisis, efficient alternative energy sources are needed. Solar energy is a major source of renewable electricity, but current solar panels made using bulk materials have low conversion efficiencies in comparison to theory. Ramakrishnan Rajagopalan (Penn State University Park and DuBois Title: COMSOL Multiphysics and MATLAB Modeling of Nanowire Photovoltaics Name: Philip Chamberlin Affiliation: Penn State Altoonaįaculty Advisors: Dr. Penn State University Park, Penn State DuBois
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