Photoelectrochemical Cells With and Without Storage Based on II-VI Semiconductor Materials

Research on electrochemical photovoltaic cells incorporating thin film n-CdSe and n-CdSe-xTex photoanodes has resulted in efficiencies up to 7.5% using small area eletrodes in polysulfide electrolytes. Efficiencies close to 10% can be achived using alternate electrolytes in significantly less stable systems. Research on CuInSe2 electrochemical photovoltaic cells has resulted in efficiencies up to11.7% using single crystal n-CuInSe2 photoanodes in aqueous electrolytes. A review will also be given on the status of photoelectrochemical storage research.