In my research, I use sucrose to modify TiO2 nanoparticles to study the influence of sucrose modification in the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell. Two types of TiO2 are used in the experiments, one is P-25 (80% anatase, Degussa, Germany) and the other is ST-21 (100% anatase, Ishihara Sangyo, Japan). The results shows that the solar cells with TiO2 photoanode sintered in N2 has better conversion efficiency than that sintered in air. On the other hand, the TiO2 with 0.08 g/mL sucrose modification and sintered in N2 has the best conversion efficiency than the others with different sucrose concentration modifications and the highest conversion efficiency reaches 5.55 %. The performance of P-25 with 0.08 g/mL sucrose made solar cell is 10.9% higher than that without sucrose modification TiO2 photoanode made solar cell and the performance of ST-21 with 0.08 g/mL sucrose made solar cell is 5.4% higher than that without sucrose modification.

The objective of the research in this thesis was to develop high-efficiency n-type silicon solar cells at low-cost to reach grid parity. This was accomplished by reducing the electrical and optical losses in solar cells through understanding of fundamental physics and loss mechanisms, development of process technologies, cell design, and modeling. All these technology enhancements provided a 3.44% absolute increase in efficiency over the 17.4% efficient n-type PERT solar cell. Finally, 20.84% efficient n-type PERT (passivated emitter and rear totally diffused) solar cells were achieved on commercial grade 239cm2 n-type Cz silicon wafers with optimized front boron emitter without boron-rich layer and phosphorus back surface field, silicon dioxide/silicon nitride stack for surface passivation, optimized front grid pattern with screen printed 5 busbars and 100 gridlines, and improved rear contact with laser opening and physical vapor deposition aluminum. This thesis also suggested research directions to improve cell efficiency further and attain ≥21% efficient n-type solar cells which involves three additional technology developments including the use of floating busbars, selective emitters, and negatively charged aluminum oxide (Al2O3) film for boron emitter surface passivation.

The electricity generation using photovoltaic (PV) solar cells is the most viable and promising alternative to the fossil-fuel based technologies which are threatening world&rsquo / s climate. PV cells directly convert solar energy into electrical power through an absorption process that takes place in a solid state device which is commonly fabricated using semiconductors. These devices can be employed for many years with almost no degradation and maintenance. PV technologies have been diversified in different directions in recent years. Many technologies with different advantages have been developed. However, with more than %85 percent market share, Si wafer based solar cells have been the most widely used solar cell type. This is partly due to the fact that Si technology is well known from the microelectronic industry. This thesis is concerned with the production of single crystalline silicon solar cells and optimization of process parameters through the characterization of each processing step. Process steps of solar cell fabrications, namely, the light trapping by texturing, cleaning, solid state diffusion, lithography, annealing, anti reflective coating, edge isolation have all been studied with a systematic approach. Each sample set has been characterized by measuring I-V characteristics, quantum efficiencies and reflectance characteristics. The best efficiency that we reached during this study is 10.37% under AM1.5G illumination. This is below the efficiency values of the commercially available solar cells. The most apparent reason for the low efficiency value is the series resistance caused by the thin metal contacts. It is observed that the efficiency upon the reduction of series resistance effect is reduced. We have shown that the texturing and anti-reflective coating have a critically important effect for light management for better efficiency values. Finally we have investigated the fabrication of metal nanoparticles on the Si wafer for possible utilization of plasmonic oscillation in them for light trapping. The self assembly formation of gold nanoparticles on silicon surface has been successfully demonstrated. The optical properties of the nanoparticles have been studied / however, further and more detailed analysis is required.

abstract: To date, the most popular and dominant material for commercial solar cells is crystalline silicon (or wafer-Si). It has the highest cell efficiency and cell lifetime out of all commercial solar cells. Although the potential of crystalline-Si solar cells in supplying energy demands is enormous, their future growth will likely be constrained by two major bottlenecks. The first is the high electricity input to produce crystalline-Si solar cells and modules, and the second is the limited supply of silver (Ag) reserves. These bottlenecks prevent crystalline-Si solar cells from reaching terawatt-scale deployment, which means the electricity produced by crystalline-Si solar cells would never fulfill a noticeable portion of our energy demands in the future. In order to solve the issue of Ag limitation for the front metal grid, aluminum (Al) electroplating has been developed as an alternative metallization technique in the fabrication of crystalline-Si solar cells. The plating is carried out in a near-room-temperature ionic liquid by means of galvanostatic electrolysis. It has been found that dense, adherent Al deposits with resistivity in the high 10^–6 ohm-cm range can be reproducibly obtained directly on Si substrates and nickel seed layers. An all-Al Si solar cell, with an electroplated Al front electrode and a screen-printed Al back electrode, has been successfully demonstrated based on commercial p-type monocrystalline-Si solar cells, and its efficiency is approaching 15%. Further optimization of the cell fabrication process, in particular a suitable patterning technique for the front silicon nitride layer, is expected to increase the efficiency of the cell to ~18%. This shows the potential of Al electroplating in cell metallization is promising and replacing Ag with Al as the front finger electrode is feasible. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

Our reliance on semiconductors is on the rise with the ever growing use of electronics in our daily life. Organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites have emerged as a prime alternative to current standard and expensive semiconductors because of its use of abundant elements and the ease of solution processing. This thesis has shed light on the ink-to-solid conversion during the one-step solution process of hybrid perovskite formulations from DMF. We utilize a suite of in situ diagnostic probes including high speed optical microscopy, optical reflectance and absorbance, and grazing incidence wide angle x-ray scattering (GIWAXS), all performed during spin coating, to monitor the solution thinning behavior, changes in optical absorbance, and nucleation and growth of crystalline phases of the precursor and perovskite. The starting formulation experiences solvent-solute interactions within seconds of casting, leading to the formation of a wet gel with nanoscale features visible by in situ GIWAXS. The wet gel subsequently gives way to the formation of ordered precursor solvates (equimolar iodide and chloride solutions) or disordered precursor solvates (equimolar bromide or 3:1 chloride), depending upon the halide and MAI content. The ordered precursor solute phases are stable and retain the solvent for long durations, resulting in consistent conversion behavior to the perovskite phase and solar-cell performance. In this thesis, we develop a firm understanding of the solvent engineering process in which an anti-solvent is used during the coating process through the solvent mixture of GBL and DMSO in different ratios. It has been shown that solvent engineering produce pin hole-free films, justifying its wide adoption across the field. We then translate our learnings from the lab scale spin coating process to the industrial friendly blade coating process. Here we compare the ink solidification and film formation mechanisms of CH3NH3PbI3 in solutions we used to understand the key scientific insights through spin coating. We observe high-quality film formation for T > 100oC, namely in conditions which inhibit the formation of the crystalline intermediate complex phases. In doing so, we achieve fast and direct formation of the perovskite phase with solar cells yielding PCE > 17%.

The environmental challenges are increasing, and so is the need for renewable energy. For photovoltaic applications, thin film Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGS) and CuIn(S,Se)2 (CIS) solar cells are attractive with conversion efficiencies of more than 20%. However, the high-efficiency cells are fabricated using vacuum technologies such as sputtering or thermal co-evaporation, which are very costly and unfeasible at industrial level. The fabrication involves the uses of highly toxic gases such as H2Se, adding complexity to the fabrication process. The work described here focused on non-vacuum deposition methods such as printing. Special attention has been given to printing designed in a moving Roll-to-Roll (R2R) fashion. The results show potential of such technology to replace the vacuum processes. Conversion efficiencies for such non-vacuum deposition of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 solar cells have exceeded 15% using hazardous chemicals such as hydrazine, which is unsuitable for industrial scale up. In an effort to simplify the process, non-toxic suspensions of Cu(In,Ga)S2 molecular-based precursors achieved efficiencies of ~7-15%. Attempts to further simplify the selenization step, deposition of CuIn(S,Se)2 particulate solutions without the Ga doping and non-toxic suspensions of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 quaternary precursors achieved efficiencies (~1-8%). The contribution of this research was to provide a new method to monitor printed structures through spectral-domain optical coherence tomography SD-OCT in a moving fashion simulating R2R process design at speeds up to 1.05 m/min. The research clarified morphological and compositional impacts of Nd:YAG laser heat-treatment on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber layer to simplify the annealing step in non-vacuum environment compatible to R2R. Finally, the research further simplified development methods for CIGS solar cells based on suspensions of quaternary Cu(In,Ga)Se2 precursors and ternary CuInS2 precursors. The methods consisted of post deposition reactive annealing for performance enhancement up to 2.0% solar cell conversion efficiency. Chemical treatment using metal salt solutions and Na2Se4 for Na and Se incorporation provided efficiencies up to 1.1%.

No description available.

<p> Solar Cells of at least 10% conversion efficiency were fabricated from silicon wafers of one inch diameter and the same processing procedure was applied to wafers of three inch diameter. Four of the three inch diameter solar cells were affixed to a galvanized steel plate and hooked in a parallel configuration to make a solar cell panel. A piece of special plastic was placed over the solar cells on the panel and hermetically sealed to protect the solar cells from the environment which in time would degrade the performance of the solar cells. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

<p> As part of a CdS-cu2s thin film solar cell research project, a CdS evaporation system was designed and built using an Edwards 19E6 coating unit. With the overall aims of the project in mind, the apparatus was designed as part of a CdS-Cu2s dual, in situ, evaporation system. CdS films, ranging in thickness from lμ to 25μ, produced by this system, were characterized optically, electrically and crystallographically as functions of the various evaporation parameters. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

No description available.