A miniature solar device for overall water splitting consisting of series-connected spherical silicon solar cells

Yosuke Kageshima; Tatsuya Shinagawa; Takaaki Kuwata; Josuke Nakata; Tsutomu Minegishi; Kazuhiro Takanabe; Kazunari Domen

doi:10.1038/srep24633

A miniature solar device for overall water splitting consisting of series-connected spherical silicon solar cells

Yosuke Kageshima, Tatsuya Shinagawa, Takaaki Kuwata, Josuke Nakata, Tsutomu Minegishi, Kazuhiro Takanabe, Kazunari Domen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

A novel “photovoltaics (PV) + electrolyzer” concept is presented using a simple, small, and completely stand-alone non-biased device for solar-driven overall water splitting. Three or four spherical-shaped p-n junction silicon balls were successfully connected in series, named “SPHELAR.” SPHELAR possessed small projected areas of 0.20 (3PVs) and 0.26 cm2 (4PVs) and exhibited working voltages sufficient for water electrolysis. Impacts of the configuration on the PV module performance were carefully analyzed, revealing that a drastic increase in the photocurrent (≈20%) was attained by the effective utilization of a reflective sheet. Separate investigations on the electrocatalyst performance showed that non-noble metal based materials with reasonably small sizes (

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	6
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24633
State	Published - Apr 18 2016

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This work was financially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research (No. 23000009) of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1038/srep24633

https://repository.kaust.edu.sa/bitstream/10754/605858/1/srep24633.pdf

Cite this

@article{bed34796749d4fd4b2b0bcab05384eb0,

title = "A miniature solar device for overall water splitting consisting of series-connected spherical silicon solar cells",

abstract = "A novel “photovoltaics (PV) + electrolyzer” concept is presented using a simple, small, and completely stand-alone non-biased device for solar-driven overall water splitting. Three or four spherical-shaped p-n junction silicon balls were successfully connected in series, named “SPHELAR.” SPHELAR possessed small projected areas of 0.20 (3PVs) and 0.26 cm2 (4PVs) and exhibited working voltages sufficient for water electrolysis. Impacts of the configuration on the PV module performance were carefully analyzed, revealing that a drastic increase in the photocurrent (≈20%) was attained by the effective utilization of a reflective sheet. Separate investigations on the electrocatalyst performance showed that non-noble metal based materials with reasonably small sizes (",

author = "Yosuke Kageshima and Tatsuya Shinagawa and Takaaki Kuwata and Josuke Nakata and Tsutomu Minegishi and Kazuhiro Takanabe and Kazunari Domen",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: This work was financially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research (No. 23000009) of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).",

year = "2016",

month = apr,

day = "18",

doi = "10.1038/srep24633",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "6",

journal = "Scientific Reports",

issn = "2045-2322",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A miniature solar device for overall water splitting consisting of series-connected spherical silicon solar cells

AU - Kageshima, Yosuke

AU - Shinagawa, Tatsuya

AU - Kuwata, Takaaki

AU - Nakata, Josuke

AU - Minegishi, Tsutomu

AU - Takanabe, Kazuhiro

AU - Domen, Kazunari

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: This work was financially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research (No. 23000009) of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

PY - 2016/4/18

Y1 - 2016/4/18

N2 - A novel “photovoltaics (PV) + electrolyzer” concept is presented using a simple, small, and completely stand-alone non-biased device for solar-driven overall water splitting. Three or four spherical-shaped p-n junction silicon balls were successfully connected in series, named “SPHELAR.” SPHELAR possessed small projected areas of 0.20 (3PVs) and 0.26 cm2 (4PVs) and exhibited working voltages sufficient for water electrolysis. Impacts of the configuration on the PV module performance were carefully analyzed, revealing that a drastic increase in the photocurrent (≈20%) was attained by the effective utilization of a reflective sheet. Separate investigations on the electrocatalyst performance showed that non-noble metal based materials with reasonably small sizes (

AB - A novel “photovoltaics (PV) + electrolyzer” concept is presented using a simple, small, and completely stand-alone non-biased device for solar-driven overall water splitting. Three or four spherical-shaped p-n junction silicon balls were successfully connected in series, named “SPHELAR.” SPHELAR possessed small projected areas of 0.20 (3PVs) and 0.26 cm2 (4PVs) and exhibited working voltages sufficient for water electrolysis. Impacts of the configuration on the PV module performance were carefully analyzed, revealing that a drastic increase in the photocurrent (≈20%) was attained by the effective utilization of a reflective sheet. Separate investigations on the electrocatalyst performance showed that non-noble metal based materials with reasonably small sizes (

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/605858

UR - http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24633

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84964291950&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/srep24633

DO - 10.1038/srep24633

M3 - Article

C2 - 27087266

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 6

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

ER -

A miniature solar device for overall water splitting consisting of series-connected spherical silicon solar cells

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this