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Analysis of institutional authors

Ramiro, ICorresponding AuthorMarti, AAuthor

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November 5, 2020
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Intermediate band solar cells: Present and future

Publicated to: PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS. 29 (7): 705-713 - 2021-07-01 29(7), DOI: 10.1002/pip.3351

Authors:

Ramiro, I; Martí, A
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Inst Energia Solar, Ave Complutense 30, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author

Abstract

In the quest for high-efficiency photovoltaics (PV), the intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) was proposed in 1997 as an alternative to tandem solar cells. The IBSC offers 63% efficiency under maximum solar concentration using a single semiconductor material. This high-efficiency limit attracted the attention of the PV community, yielding to numerous intermediate band (IB) studies and IBSC prototypes employing a plethora of candidate IB materials. As a consequence, the principles of operation of the IBSC have been demonstrated, and the particularities and difficulties inherent to each different technological implementation of the IBSC have been reasonably identified and understood. From a theoretical and experimental point of view, the IBSC research has reached a mature stage. Yet we feel that, driven by the large number of explored materials and technologies so far, there is some confusion about what route the IBSC research should take to transition from the proof of concept to high efficiency. In this work, we give our view on which the next steps should be. For this, first, we briefly review the theoretical framework of the IBSC, the achieved experimental milestones, and the different technological approaches used, with special emphasis on those recently proposed.
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Keywords

AbsorptionEfficiencyEnergy-conversionHigh efficiencyIntermediate bandSolar cell

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 22/161, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Physics, Applied.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.76. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 2.4 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-25, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 68
  • Scopus: 67
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-25:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 71.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 69 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 20.
  • The number of mentions on Wikipedia: 6 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/64919/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 418
  • Downloads: 1,578
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Ramiro González, Iñigo) and Last Author (MARTI VEGA, ANTONIO).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Ramiro González, Iñigo.

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Awards linked to the item

Comunidad de Madrid, Grant/Award Numbers: Project MADRID-PV2-CM (P2018/EMT-4308), P2018/EMT-4308; Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Grant/Award Numbers: Project 2GAPS (TEC2017-92301-EXP), TEC2017-92301-EXP
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