Light Trapping in Thin-film Solar Cells Using Dielectric and Metallic Nanostructures - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Light Trapping in Thin-film Solar Cells Using Dielectric and Metallic Nanostructures write by . This book was released on 2014. Light Trapping in Thin-film Solar Cells Using Dielectric and Metallic Nanostructures available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. "Photovoltaics (PV) is a sustainable and clean source of energy and the sun provides more than enough energy to make PV a major electricity source. To make PV fully competitive with conventional energy sources, a reduction of the cost per watt is required. This can be achieved by increasing the conversion efficiency of the modules or by decreasing manufacturing cost. Thin-film solar cells offer the potential for lower manufacturing costs. They can also serve as top cells in high-efficiency tandem solar cells. A major problem with thin-film solar cells is the incomplete absorption of the solar spectrum, which leads to a drastic reduction of the efficiency. To enhance the absorption of light in thin-film solar cells light trapping is required, in which nanostructures are integrated in the cell to enhance the path length of the light in the absorber layer. In this thesis we present new insights in light trapping in thin-film hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) solar cells. We experimentally study arrays of metallic and dielectric resonant scatterers at the front and at the back side of thin-film solar cells, and demonstrate efficient light trapping without deterioration of the electrical properties of the devices. We emphasize the relevance of minimizing optical losses in the light trapping patterns. We compare periodic and random scattering patterns and demonstrate the importance of the spatial frequency distribution in the scattering patterns. We present an optimization of the spatial frequency distribution of light trapping patterns that is applicable to all thin-film solar cell types."-Samenvatting auteur.
High Efficiency III/V Thin Film Solar Cells
High Efficiency III/V Thin Film Solar Cells - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook High Efficiency III/V Thin Film Solar Cells write by Xiaohan Li (Ph. D.). This book was released on 2015. High Efficiency III/V Thin Film Solar Cells available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Photon management via submicron and subwavelength nanostructures has been extensively studied over the last decade, and has become one of the most important approaches of boosting the energy conversion efficiency for thin-film photovoltaic devices. The incorporation of low dimensional nanostructures, such as GaAs/InGaAs quantum wells, into typical GaAs single-junction cells will extend the cell absorption further into the sub-GaAs bandgap region but usually results in reduced cell open-circuit voltage. As a consequence, various bandgap engineering techniques for improving the energy conversion efficiency for quantum well solar cells have been reported. This dissertation will describe studies of light trapping in multiple GaAs/InGaAs quantum well solar cells via nanostructured front side dielectric coating and back side metal/dielectric contacts, photovoltaic performance enhancement for bulk and flexible thin-film GaAs solar cells through subwavelength nanostructured antireflection coating, and bandgap engineering techniques for GaAs/InGaAs multiple quantum well solar cells. In the study of nanostructured dielectric antireflection coatings, a 5.8% increase in short-circuit current density is observed for the GaAs/In0.3Ga0.7As multiple quantum well cell coated with TiO2 nanostructured coating compared to the cell coated with conventional Si3N4 single-layer antireflection coating even in the presence of high surface recombination. Numerical simulation shows that as high as 13% increase in short-circuit current density can be achieved without surface recombination. In the study of GaAs/In0.3Ga0.7As multiple quantum well solar cells integrated with nanostructured back side metal/dielectric contacts, as high as 2.9% per quantum well external quantum efficiency is achieved, significantly surpassing the 1% per quantum well external quantum efficiency typically observed in quantum well solar cells. In both studies, two major mechanisms contributing to the increased longer wavelength quantum well absorption have been elucidated: Fabry-Perot resonances and scattering into guided optical modes. In application of subwavelength-scale optical nanostructures on bulk and flexible epitaxial lift-off GaAs solar cells for broadband, omnidirectional improvement of photovoltaic performance, 1.1× increase in short-circuit current density is observed for the bulk GaAs cell fully integrated with optical nanostructures compared to the unpatterned cell (1.09× increase in short-circuit current density for flexible epitaxial lift-off GaAs cell) at normal incidence, while 1.67× increase in short-circuit current density is observed (1.52× increase in short-circuit current density is observed for flexible epitaxial lift-off GaAs cell) at 80° angle of incidence. In the study of bandgap engineering strategies for improving the photovoltaic performance for GaAs/InGaAs multiple quantum well solar cells, a quantum well solar cell with graded quantum well depths, which has an average 18% indium concentration in quantum wells, is shown to yield improvements in both open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density compared to a GaAs/In0.18Ga0.82As quantum well solar cell with constant quantum well depths across the intrinsic region. The results of this study suggest that such an approach can also be implemented in quantum well solar cells with more complex quantum well structures, such as ternary or quaternary quantum wells, where the conduction and valence band offsets of each quantum well can be simultaneously engineered.
Anti-reflection and Light Trapping in c-Si Solar Cells
Anti-reflection and Light Trapping in c-Si Solar Cells - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Anti-reflection and Light Trapping in c-Si Solar Cells write by Chetan Singh Solanki. This book was released on 2017-06-30. Anti-reflection and Light Trapping in c-Si Solar Cells available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book offers essential insights into c-Si based solar cells and fundamentals of reflection, refraction, and light trapping. The basic physics and technology for light trapping in c-Si based solar cells are covered, from traditional to advanced light trapping structures. Further, the book discusses the latest developments in plasmonics for c-Si solar cell applications, along with their future scope and the requirements for further research. The book offers a valuable guide for graduate students, researchers and professionals interested in the latest trends in solar cell technologies.
Introduction to Light Trapping in Solar Cell and Photo-detector Devices
Introduction to Light Trapping in Solar Cell and Photo-detector Devices - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Introduction to Light Trapping in Solar Cell and Photo-detector Devices write by Stephen J. Fonash. This book was released on 2014-09-15. Introduction to Light Trapping in Solar Cell and Photo-detector Devices available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. New Approaches to Light Trapping in Solar Cell Devices discusses in detail the use of photonic and plasmonic effects for light trapping in solar cells. It compares and contrasts texturing, the current method of light-trapping design in solar cells, with emerging approaches employing photonic and plasmonic phenomena. These new light trapping methods reduce the amount of absorber required in a solar cell, promising significant cost reduction and efficiency. This book highlights potential advantages of photonics and plasmonics and describes design optimization using computer modeling of these approaches. Its discussion of ultimate efficiency possibilities in solar cells is grounded in a review of the Shockley-Queisser analysis; this includes an in-depth examination of recent analyses building on that seminal work.
Light Trapping in Solar Cells Using Resonant Nanostructures
Light Trapping in Solar Cells Using Resonant Nanostructures - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Light Trapping in Solar Cells Using Resonant Nanostructures write by . This book was released on 2013. Light Trapping in Solar Cells Using Resonant Nanostructures available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. "Photovoltaics is a sustainable and environmentally clean source of energy that has the potential to become a major source of energy for our society. In order for this to happen, photovoltaics needs to be economically competitive with other conventional energy sources. This can be achieved by reducing the production costs of solar panels and by improving their photovoltaic conversion efficiency. For Si solar cells, both challenges can be achieved by reducing the thickness of the solar cell. However, major optical losses occur when the thickness of Si solar cell is reduced, due to incomplete absorption of light. In this thesis, we investigate new ways of enhancing light absorption in Si solar cells by using nanostructures that show resonant interaction with light. We study the fundamental aspects of resonant scattering of light by metallic and dielectric nanoparticles placed on top of thick and thin dielectric substrates. If optimally designed these nanostructures can lead to efficient light coupling and trapping in solar cells. This allows the realization of novel solar cell architectures with higher efficiency that can be made at lower costs."--Samenvatting auteur.
