A platform for colorful solar cells with enhanced absorption

We demonstrate submicron thick platform integrating amorphous silicon nanowires and thin-films achieving vivid colors in transmission and reflection. The platform nearly doubles the absorption efficiency compared to the starting thin-film without much compromising with color diverseness. The structural colors can be changed over a wide range by changing the diameters of the nanowires while still keeping the absorption efficiency higher than starting thin-film. The optical response of the platform is conceptually understood for different diameters combined with different thin-film thicknesses indicating the presence of leaky waveguide modes and coupled cavity modes. Our proposed platform can enable architectural low price colorful solar cells on transparent substrates. (paper)