Photovoltaic properties evaluated by its thermodynamic evolution in a double quantum dot photocell

Abstract

Obtaining the physical mechanism of photoelectric transfer in quantum-dot (QD) photocells may be one strategy to boost the photovoltaic conversion efficiency. In this work, we attempted to formulate a novel theoretical approach to evaluate photocells' performance via evaluating their thermodynamic evolution during the photoelectric conversion process in a double quantum dot (DQD) photocell model. Results demonstrate that the thermodynamic-related quantities can reflect the law of photovoltaic dynamics, i.e., the photoelectric transfer properties can be evaluated by the heat currents indirectly. The merit of this work not only expands our understanding of the physical law of heat currents in the photoelectric transport process, but it may also propose a new method for optimizing photoelectric conversion efficiency in a DQD photocell.