Thesis (LLM)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: International trade has increased tremendously in the last few decades. When parties to a contract find themselves in different countries and each has its own legal background, specific problems originate in connection with formation of the contract, its execution, the breach thereof and so forth. The predominant theme of this work is the question of how a diversity of legal rules should be approached in an international context. The focus is on contract formation, and the rules of offer and acceptance are therefore examined. As a result of diverse legal cultures, different legal systems often have contradicting rules pertaining to contract formation, which can lead to a variety of problems if the contracting parties are not aware of the inconsistencies. According to international private law's choice of law-rules, such a contract should be governed by the rules of the legal system with which it has the closest connection. Connecting factors can be for instance the domicile of particular persons at various times, the situs of property, or the place where a juristic act was performed. One specific legal system will therefore rule the contract. There is however another possibility: that of a uniform substantive law. This involves the unification of different legal rules into one set of rules to be applied to contracts which are concluded in an international context. Taking into account that many of the rules and doctrines applicable to contract law have a common philosophical origin, the necessity of a convergence of these rules may be questioned. However, most of the rules ended up being different in different legal systems, and parties to an international transaction will probably not have the same idea about questions such as the possibility to revoke an offer before acceptance, or the precise moment of formation of the contract. A comparative study of the rules of offer and acceptance illustrates this point. International efforts to unify the law in this regard are explored, in order to assess the possibility of a uniform substantive law of contracts. Some of the international instruments seem to be able to find a middle way between conflicting rules, although it may not always be the best way to solve the problem. It is argued that harmony is not necessarily advanced by a codification of existing rules, and that a common legal culture which can lead to the incremental development of harmonious legal principles may be an alternative solution for the problem of incompatible national legal systems in an international context. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Internasionale handel het die afgelope paar dekades geweldig toegeneem. Wanneer kontraktante hulle in verskillende lande bevind, elke party met sy eie regsagtergrond, ontstaan eiesoortige probleme in verband met kontraksluiting, die uitvoering daarvan, kontrakbreuk, en dies meer. Die oorheersende tema van hierdie werk is die vraag na die hantering van 'n verskeidenheid regsreëls betrokke in 'n internasionale konteks. Die fokus is op kontraksluiting, en die reëls aangaande aanbod en aanname word derhalwe ondersoek. As gevolg van die bestaan van uiteenlopende regskulture het verskillende regstelsels dikwels teenstrydige reëls met betrekking tot kontraksluiting. Dit kan natuurlik problematies wees, veral indien die partye tot die kontrak nie bewus is van die teenstrydighede nie. Ooreenkomstig die choice of law-reëls van internasionale privaatreg, word so 'n kontrak beheers deur die regstelsel waarmee dit die nouste verbintenis het. Faktore wat dui op so 'n band kan byvoorbeeld die domisilie van bepaalde persone op verskillende tye, die situs van eiendom, of die plek waar 'n regshandeling verrig is wees. Een spesifieke regstelsel sal dus van toepassing wees op die kontrak. Daar is egter ook 'n ander moontlikheid: dié van 'n eenvormige substantiewe reg. Dit behels die vereniging van verskillende regsreëls ten einde een stel reëls daar te stel wat toegepas word op internasionale kontrakte. lndien in ag geneem word dat heelparty reëls en leerstukke in die kontraktereg 'n gemeenskaplike filosofiese oorsprong het, is die noodsaaklikheid van 'n vereniging van die reëls nie 'n gegewe nie. Die meeste van dié reëls het egter verskillend uitgekristalliseer in verskillende regstelsels, en partye tot 'n internasionale transaksie sal heel waarskynlik nie dieselfde opinie hê oor kwessies soos die moontlikheid om 'n aanbod voor aanname daarvan te herroep, of die presiese oomblik van totstandkoming van 'n kontrak nie. 'n Vergelykende studie van die reëls van aanbod en aanname illustreer die punt. Internasionale pogings om die reg in die verband te verenig word ondersoek, ten einde die moontlikheid van 'n eenvormige substantiewe reg van toepassing op kontrakte te beoordeel. Sekere van die internasionale instrumente blyk 'n middeweg tussen uiteenlopende reëls te vind, alhoewel dit nie noodwendig die beste manier is om die probleem voorhande op te los nie. Daar word geargumenteer dat harmonie nie noodwendig bevorder word deur 'n kodifikasie van bestaande reëls nie, en dat 'n gemeenskaplike regskultuur wat tot die geleidelike ontwikkeling van eenvormige regsbeginsels kan lei, 'n alternatiewe oplossing vir die probleem van onversoenbare nasionale regstelsels in 'n internasionale konteks kan wees.

abstract: In the interest of expediting future pilot line start-ups for solar cell research, the development of Arizona State University's student-led pilot line at the Solar Power Laboratory is discussed extensively within this work. Several experiments and characterization techniques used to formulate and optimize a series of processes for fabricating diffused-junction, screen-printed silicon solar cells are expounded upon. An experiment is conducted in which the thickness of a PECVD deposited anti-reflection coating (ARC) is varied across several samples and modeled as a function of deposition time. Using this statistical model in tandem with reflectance measurements for each sample, the ARC thickness is optimized to increase light trapping in the solar cells. A response surface model (RSM) experiment is conducted in which 3 process parameters are varied on the PECVD tool for the deposition of the ARCs on several samples. A contactless photoconductance decay (PCD) tool is used to measure the dark saturation currents of these samples. A statistical analysis is performed using JMP in which optimum deposition parameters are found. A separate experiment shows an increase in the passivation quality of the a-SiNx:H ARCs deposited on the solar cells made on the line using these optimum parameters. A RSM experiment is used to optimize the printing process for a particular silver paste in a similar fashion, the results of which are confirmed by analyzing the series resistance of subsequent cells fabricated on the line. An in-depth explanation of a more advanced analysis using JMP and PCD measurements on the passivation quality of 3 aluminum back-surface fields (BSF) is given. From this experiment, a comparison of the means is conducted in order to choose the most effective BSF paste for cells fabricated on the line. An experiment is conducted in parallel which confirms the results via Voc measurements. It is shown that in a period of 11 months, the pilot line went from producing a top cell efficiency of 11.5% to 17.6%. Many of these methods used for the development of this pilot line are equally applicable to other cell structures, and can easily be applied to other solar cell pilot lines. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2014