10,202 research outputs found
Harnessing high altitude solar power
No full textAs an intermediate solution between Glaser's satellite solar power (SSP) and ground-based photovoltaic (PV) panels, this paper examines the collection of solar energy using a high-altitude aerostatic platform. A procedure to calculate the irradiance in the medium/high troposphere, based on experimental data, is described. The results show that here a PV system could collect about four to six times the energy collected by a typical U.K.-based ground installation, and between one-third and half of the total energy the same system would collect if supported by a geostationary satellite (SSP). The concept of the aerostat for solar power generation is then briefly described together with the equations that link its main engineering parameters/variables. A preliminary sizing of a facility stationed at 6 km altitude and its costing, based on realistic values of the input engineering parameters, is then presented
Design of a GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cell for maximum daily, monthly, and yearly energy output
No full textSolar concentrator cells are typically designed for maximum efficiency under the AM1.5d standard spectrum. While this methodology does allow for a direct comparison of cells produced by various laboratories, it does not guarantee maximum daily, monthly, or yearly energy production, as the relative distribution of spectral energy changes throughout the day and year. It has been suggested that achieving this goal requires designing under a nonstandard spectrum. In this work, a GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cell is designed for maximum energy production by optimizing for a set of geographically-dependent solar spectra using detailed numerical models. The optimization procedure focuses on finding the best combination of GaInP bandgap and GaInP and GaAs sub-cell absorber layer thicknesses. It is shown that optimizing for the AM1.5d standard spectrum produces nearly maximum yearly energy. This result simplifies the design of a dual-junction device considerably, is independent of the optical concentration up to at least 500 suns, and holds for a wide range of geographic locations. The simulation results are compared to those obtained using a more traditional, ideal-diode model. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI:10.1117/1.3633244
Industrially viable diffused IBC solar cells using APCVD dopant glass layers
No full textEven though interdigitated back contact (IBC) architecture produces the most efficient solar cells, it is difficult to make them cost-effective and industrially viable. Therefore, single-sided atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) is investigated for the fabrication of IBC solar cells because it reduces the overall thermal budget, simplifies wet bench processing, and requires no additional masking layer. For the fabrication of a full APCVD IBC solar cell, a very lightly doped front surface field (FSF) of 650 Ω/sq, a heavier doped back surface field (BSF) of 100 Ω/sq and a moderately doped emitter of 250 Ω/sq was used. The high-temperature annealing step is partially done in an oxygen (O2) environment to (i) drive in dopants, (ii) prevent the formation of a boron-rich layer in case of p+ doped c-Si, and (iii) grow an in-situ SiO2 at the Si/dopant glass interface. The etch rate difference between the in-situ grown SiO2 and the doped glass layer is utilized to etch the doped glass completely. The retained in-situ SiO2 after etching is capped with plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) SiNx for the passivation of both polarities of IBC solar cells. A full APCVD IBC solar cell precursors (i.e. before metallization) obtained implied open-circuit voltage (iVoc) of 714 mV and emitter saturation current density (J0s) of 17 fA/cm2. At the device level, a full APCVD IBC solar cell achieved a conversion efficiency of 22.8% with Voc of 696 mV and short-circuit current density JSC of 41.3 mA/cm2. These parameters are comparable to the commercially available full-tube diffused ZEBRA® IBC solar cells.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electrical Sustainable EnergyPhotovoltaic Materials and Device
Inverse prediction and optimization analysis of a solar pond powering a thermoelectric generator
No full textA given temperature difference across the upper and the lower convective zone of a solar pond is commonly
sought in thermoelectric power generation. Based on this consideration, this work is aimed at predicting the
lengths of various zones of a solar pond to ensure a minimum temperature potential throughout the year be-
tween its upper and lower convective zones. For predicting the critical lengths of various zones of the solar pond,
at first, the heat energy conservation-based model available in the literature is modified by accounting the effect
of salinity and temperature on various thermal parameters. The model is satisfactorily-validated with similar
model and experimental data reported in the literature. Thereafter, considering the requirement of a thermo-
electric power generator (TEG), an inverse problem is solved with the aid of a genetic algorithm-based opti-
mization method to predict feasible lengths of various zones satisfying a minimum temperature potential across
TEG considering suitable thermal resistances. The present results reveal improved pond dimensions achieving a
better temperature profile at a lower total height than that available in the literature. Further, case studies of
diverse meteorological conditions of India are carried out and it becomes apparent that, around the year,
multiple combinations of convective and non-convective regions of the solar pond can ensure the required
minimum (or more) temperature difference across relevant zones of the solar pond. Finally, the present study
also reveals that the temperature of the upper convective zone is largely governed by the thickness of this zone,
whereas, the thickness of the non-convective zone is largely responsible for the temperature within the storage
zone. The present study provides a novel inverse methodology to predict and optimize the suitable dimensions of
various regions of a salt-gradient solar pond to ensure a minimum temperature potential across the year for
thermoelectric power generation.Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB
Highly efficient selective metamaterial absorber for high-temperature solar thermal energy harvesting
No full textabstract: In this work, a selective solar absorber made of nanostructured titanium gratings deposited on an ultrathin MgF[subscript 2] spacer and a tungsten ground film is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Normal absorptance of the fabricated solar absorber is characterized to be higher than 0.9 in the UV, visible and, near infrared (IR) regime, while the mid-IR emittance is around 0.2. The high broadband absorption in the solar spectrum is realized by the excitation of surface plasmon and magnetic polariton resonances, while the low mid-IR emittance is due to the highly reflective nature of the metallic components. Further directional and polarized reflectance measurements show wide-angle and polarization-insensitive high absorption within solar spectrum. Temperature-dependent spectroscopic characterization indicates that the optical properties barely change at elevated temperatures up to 350 °C. The solar-to-heat conversion efficiency with the fabricated metamaterial solar absorber is predicted to be 78% at 100 °C without optical concentration or 80% at 400 °C with 25 suns. The performance could be further improved with better fabrication processes and geometric optimization during metamaterial design. The strong spectral selectivity, favorable diffuse-like behavior, and good thermal stability make the metamaterial selective absorber promising for significantly enhancing solar thermal energy harvesting in various systems at mid to high temperatures.This is the final peer-reviewed accepted manuscript. The final article as published is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2015.02.019
Strategies for realizing high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells
No full textSilicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells have achieved a record efficiency of 26.81% in a front/back-contacted (FBC) configuration. Moreover, thanks to their advantageous high VOC and good infrared response, SHJ solar cells can be further combined with wide bandgap perovskite cells forming tandem devices to enable efficiencies well above 33%. In this study, we present strategies to realize high-efficiency SHJ solar cells through combined theoretical and experimental studies, starting from the optimization of Si-based thin-film layers to the implementation of electrodes with reduced indium and silver usage. Advanced opto-electrical simulations, which enable comprehensive theoretical understandings of the main physical mechanisms governing carriers’ collection and light management, provide clear pathways for device designs and experimental optimizations. We present the fabricated FBC-SHJ solar cells in both monofacial and bifacial configurations with the best efficiencies of 24.18% and 23.25%, respectively. We point out that to achieve optimum device performance, the compositional materials should be holistically optimized and evaluated as part of the contact stacks with adjacent layers. As an outlook beyond the classical FBC-SHJ solar cell architecture, we propose various novel SHJ-based solar cell architectures. Their potential performance was assessed and compared via rigorous opto-electrical simulations and a maximal efficiency of 27.60% was simulated for FBC-SHJ solar cells featuring localized contacts.Photovoltaic Materials and DevicesElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer ScienceQN/Kavli Nanolab DelftElectrical Sustainable Energ
The Gondola for the Sunrise iii Balloon-Borne Solar Observatory
No full textPublisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.Sunrise iii is a balloon-borne solar observatory dedicated to investigating the physics governing the magnetism and dynamics in the lower solar atmosphere. The observatory is designed to operate in the stratosphere, at heights around 36 km (above 99% of Earth’s atmosphere), to avoid image degradation due to turbulence in the Earth’s lower atmosphere, to gain access to the NUV wavelengths down to 309 nm, and to enable (when flown during summer solstice) observing the Sun uninterruptedly 24 hours/day. It is composed of a balloon gondola (equivalent to a spacecraft bus) carrying a 1-m aperture telescope (the largest solar telescope to-date to fly in the stratosphere on a balloon) feeding an imaging vector magnetograph and two spectropolarimeters aiming at acquiring high spatial resolution high cadence time series maps of the solar vector magnetic fields, plasma flows, and temperature in the photosphere and chromosphere. In July 2024 Sunrise iii successfully completed a six and a half days long stratospheric flight from Kiruna (Sweden) to Northern Canada at an average altitude of 36 km. This was the third successful flight of the Sunrise observatory, which had previously flown in 2009 and 2013. For this flight it was upgraded substantially with a new and improved suite of three instruments carried by a completely new gondola with upgraded pointing control system. This article focuses on describing the design and flight performance of the Sunrise iii gondola and all its subsystems. It describes the gondola mechanical structure, its power system, its command and control system, and in particular its pointing control system which was key for achieving high spatial and spectral resolution images of the solar photosphere and chromosphere by the three instruments.Peer reviewe
Thermal Stable High-Efficiency Copper Screen Printed Back Contact Solar Cells
No full textThe high usage of silver in industrial solar cells may limit the growth of the solar industry. One solution is to replace Ag with copper. A screen printable Cu paste is used herein to metallize industrial interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells. A novel metallization structure is proposed for making solar cells. Cu paste is applied to replace the majority of the Ag used in IBC cells as busbars and fingers. Cu paste is evaluated for use as fingers, and solar cells are made to test conversion efficiency and reliability. The Cu paste achieves comparably low resistivity, and Cu paste printed cells demonstrate similar efficiency to Ag paste printed cells, with an average efficiency of 23%, and only 4.5 mg W−1 of Ag usage. Also, the solar cells are stable and no Cu in-diffusion is observed under damp heat (85 °C, 85% relative humidity) and thermal stress (200 °C) for 1000 h, respectively. All processes used in this study can be carried out with industrial equipment. These findings reveal a new application for Cu pastes and point to a new direction for reducing Ag utilization and cost.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Photovoltaic Materials and DevicesElectrical Sustainable Energ
Opto-electrical modelling and roadmap for 2T monolithic Perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells
No full textTwo terminal (2T) perovskite/copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) tandem solar cells combine high conversion efficiency with lightweight flexible substrates which can decrease manufacturing and installation costs. In order to improve the power conversion efficiency of these tandem solar cells, the use of advanced simulation tools is crucial to estimate the loss mechanisms. In this regard, most of the available simulation works on tandem solar cells are oriented to minimize optical losses and assuming simplifications for the electrical simulations in particular in the top and bottom cell interconnection at the so-called tunnel recombination junction (TRJ) neglecting the inner physics of the complete tandem device. Therefore, the effect of charge exchange mechanism between top and bottom soler cells on the external parameters of a tandem devices is not fully understood yet. In this work, we present an experimentally validated opto-electrical model based on the fundamental semiconductor equations for the study of loss mechanisms of a reference perovskite/CIGS solar cell. Different from other numerical works, because our simulation platform includes the fundamental working mechanisms of the layers comprising the TRJ, we can properly calculate the losses related to it. We firstly present the calibration and validation of our opto-electrical model with respect to three fabricated reference solar cells: top cell only, bottom cell only and tandem device. Then, we use the calibrated model to evaluate main loss mechanisms affecting the baseline tandem device. Finally, we use the model to propose a roadmap for the optimization of monolithic perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells.Photovoltaic Materials and DevicesEthics & Philosophy of Technolog
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