Magnolia Solar Corp. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Magnolia Solar, Inc., has demonstrated high-voltage InGaAs quantum well waveguide solar cells, described as a unique structure capable of improving the performance of photovoltaic modules. The technology has been done in collaboration with colleagues at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Kopin Corporation, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Dr. Roger E. Welser, Magnolia’s Chief Technical Officer, summarized the latest technical results, "The absorption of photons, and the generation of electrical current, is reduced in conventional thin-film solar cell designs. Using a waveguide to help trap scattered light inside the cell can dramatically increase the amount of current that can be generated. In the past, the challenge with implementing waveguide solar cell structures has been maintaining the voltages necessary to achieve high conversion efficiency. In this work, we demonstrated InGaAs quantum well waveguide photovoltaic devices with record-high operating voltages."