Development of Carbon-Quantum-Dots-based Solar Cell to Optimize Alternative Renewable Energy Source Use

Abstract

Shifting to alternative renewable energies, such as solar energy, has increased. Carbon quantum dots (CQD) are increasingly popular as an emerging technology among these sources. Hence, this paper aimed to develop carbon-quantum-dot solar cells with optimal power effectivity using an alternative renewable energy source such as rhododendron honey (mad honey). The bottom-up technique through microwave synthesis was conducted on CQD using 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 g/ml of rhododendron honey separately mixed with controlled water quantity, acetic acid, and sodium bicarbonate. The voltages generated from the solar cells were collected under ambient temperature conditions at 27℃, 29℃-33℃, and 25°C for normal testing conditions (NTC), noontime (NT) and standard testing conditions (STC), respectively. The data indic ated that the CQD-based solar cells from rhododendron honey exhibit increasing effectivity in power generation with increasing concentration compared to a typical photovoltaic (PV) cell that produces about 1-2 volts. Furthermore, the solar cells generated voltages when exposed to ambient conditions, with the highest effectivity rate at noontime. Hence, honey-based CQD solar cells are an effective source of electricity with potential for commercial purposes. The power generations were not significantly different among the ambient conditions, but the rhododendron honey concentration resulted in significant differences in the voltages at a 0.05 significance level. The 0.5 g/ml honey concentration performed best for QCD cells. Nonetheless, optimal power effectivity was comparable at all ambient conditions with 0.4 and 0.5 g/ml concentrations.