Cross–Ring Based Broadband Plasmonic Metamaterial Absorbers for Boosting Silicon Solar Cell Efficiency

Improving solar cell efficiency is crucial to meet the ever-growing global energy demand. Here, we present a wide-angle and polarization-independent design of broadband plasmonic metamaterial absorbers. We report 96.9% average absorption over 400–1100 nm wavelengths. An integrated design of broadband absorbers into photovoltaic-modules could significantly enhance solar cell efficiency.