Solar Photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most promising renewable energy technologies for mitigating the effect of climate change. Reliability of PV modules directly impacts the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), which is a metric for cost competitiveness of any energy technology. Further reduction in LCOE of PV through assured long term reliability is necessary in order to facilitate widespread use of solar energy without the need for subsidies. This dissertation is focused on frameworks for assessing reliability of bypass diodes in PV modules. Bypass diodes are critical components in PV modules that provide protection against shading. Failure of bypass diode in short circuit results in reducing the PV module power by one third, while diode failure in open circuit leaves the module susceptible for extreme hotspot heating and potentially fire hazard. PV modules, along with the bypass diodes are expected to last at least 25 years in field. The various failure mechanisms in bypass diodes such as thermal runaway, high temperature forward bias operation and thermal cycling are discussed. Operation of bypass diode under shading is modeled and method for calculating the module I-V curve under any shading scenario is presented. Frameworks for estimating the diode temperature in field deployed modules based on Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data are developed. Model for predicting the susceptibility of bypass diodes for thermal runaway is presented. Diode wear out due to High Temperature Forward Bias (HTFB) operation and Thermal Cycling (TC) is studied under custom designed accelerated tests. Overall, this dissertation is an effort towards estimating the lifetime of bypass diodes in field deployed modules, and therefore, reducing the uncertainty in long term reliability of PV modules.

A rapid thermal processing (RTP) reactor for the preparation of graded CuIn1-xGaxSe2-ySy (CIGSeS) thin-film solar cells has been designed, assembled and is being used at the Photovoltaic Materials Laboratory of the Florida Solar Energy Center. CIGSeS films having the optimum composition, morphology, and semiconducting properties were prepared using RTP. Initially films having various Cu/(In+Ga) ratios were prepared. In the next step selenium incorporation in these films was optimized, followed by sulfur incorporation in the surface to increase the bandgap at the surface. The compositional gradient of sulfur was fine-tuned so as to increase the conversion efficiency. Materials properties of these films were characterized by optical microscopy, SEM, AFM, EDS, XRD, GIXRD, AES, and EPMA. The completed cells were extensively studied by electrical characterization. Current-voltage (I-V), external and internal quantum efficiency (EQE and IQE), capacitance-voltage (C-V), and light beam induced current (LBIC) analysis were carried out. Current Density (J)-Voltage (V) curves were obtained at different temperatures. The temperature dependence of the open circuit voltage and fill factor has been estimated. The bandgap value calculated from the intercept of the linear extrapolation was ~1.1-1.2 eV. Capacitance-voltage analysis gave a carrier density of ~4.0 x 1015 cm-3. Semiconductor properties analysis of CuIn1-xGaxSe2-ySy (CIGSeS) thin-film solar cells has been carried out. The values of various PV parameters determined using this analysis were as follows: shunt resistance (Rp) of ~510 Ohms-cm2 under illumination and ~1300 Ohms-cm2 in dark, series resistance (Rs) of ~0.8 Ohms-cm2 under illumination and ~1.7 Ohms-cm2 in dark, diode quality factor (A) of 1.87, and reverse saturation current density (Jo) of 1.5 x 10-7A cm-2. The efficiency of 12.78% obtained during this research is the highest efficiency obtained by any University or National Lab for copper chalcopyrite solar cells prepared by RTP. CIGS2 cells have a better match to the solar spectrum due to their comparatively higher band-gap as compared to CIGS cells. However, they are presently limited to efficiencies below 13% which is considerably lower than that of CIGS cells of 19.9%. One of the reasons for this lower efficiency is the conduction band offset between the CIGS2 absorber layer and the CdS heterojunction partner layer. The band offset value between CIGS2 and CdS was estimated by a combination of ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and Inverse Photoemission Spectroscopy (IPES) to be -0.45 eV, i.e. a cliff is present between these two layers, enhancing the recombination at the junction, this limits the efficiency of CIGS2 wide-gap chalcopyrite solar cells.

Diels-Alder chemistry was utilized to manipulate the surface energy of glass substrates in reversible manner. Glass slides and capillaries were functionalized with hydrophobic dieneophiles resulting in a non-wetting surface. A retro Diels-Alder reaction facilitated by the thermal treatment of the surface’s function to cleave the hydrophobic dieneophile and resulted in the fabrication of a hydrophilic surface. Contact angle (CA) measurements were used as preliminary measurements for monitoring the changes in surface energy exhibited during the initial hydrophobic state (CA - 70±3°), after attachment of the dieneophile creating a hydrophobic state (CA - 101±9°) followed by reestablishment of the hydrophilic state (CA - 70±6°) upon cleavage of the Diels-Alder adduct. The treatments developed on flat glass surfaces were transferred to glass capillaries, with effective treatment confirmed by fluid column measurements. Effective flow gating was developed in the capillaries via patterning of the surface with hydrophilic/hydrophobic regions. Finally, attempts to create self-pressurizing capillaries were unsuccessful due to pronounced contact angle hysteresis for the hydrophobic surface treatment. Indium-tin oxide (ITO) substrates were functionalized with successive surface intiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) and electropolymerization. A novel hybrid styrenic/thiophene monomer (ProDOT-Sty) was synthesized and employed in the polymerization events. This unique monomer and combination of polymerization methods allowed for the templation of electropolymerized poly(3,4-alkyleneoxythiophene) brushes by first creating a poly(styrene) backbone via SI-ATRP. An ITO electrode functionalized with poly(ProDOT-Sty) brushes grafted from the ITO surface via SI-ATRP was analyzed via cyclic voltammetry which clearly indicated the electropolymerization event beginning at approximately +0.7 V vs Fc/Fc+. Photo patterning of the phosphonic acid ATRP initiator immobilized on the ITO surface was undertaken in order to create a surface that would limit growth of the polymer species to a patterned area for facile film brush thickness characterization via atomic force microscopy (AFM) at a later time. This was accomplished via lithography with ultraviolet radiation (UV) and was confirmed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A nanohetero structure composed of platinum tipped cadmium selenide seeded, cadium sulfide nanorods (CdSe@CdS-Pt NRs). CdSe quantum dots (QDs) with variable sizes were prepared by adjusting reaction temperatures and times. CdS nanorods were then grown utilizing the CdSe QDs as seeds. Various lengths of the CdSe@CdS NRs were produced that ranged from ~25 nm to ~135 nm. Investigation of the influence of the various synthetic conditions of the nanorod synthesis led to the conclusion that the ratio of CdSe seeds to Cd and S precursors could be manipulated in order to influence the length to which the nanorods grew. Pt tips were attached to an end of the CdSe@CdS nanorods as photocatalytic hydrogen production sites. TEM was utilized to characterize the different types of nanoparticles at each stage of assembly.

All-polymer solar cells (APSC) are a class of organic solar cells in which hole and electron transporting phases are made of conjugated polymers. Unlike polymer/fullerene solar cell, photoactive material of APSC can be designed to have hole and electron transporting polymers with complementary absorption range and proper frontier energy level offset. However, the highest reported PCE of APSC is 5 times less than that of polymer/fullerene solar cell. The low PCE of APSC is mainly due to: i) low charge separation efficiency; and ii) lack of optimal morphology to facilitate charge transfer and transport; and iii) lack of control over the exciton and charge transport in each phase. My research work is focused towards addressing these issues. The charge separation efficiency of APSC can be enhanced by designing novel electron transporting polymers with: i) broad absorption range; ii) high electron mobility; and iii) high dielectric constant. In addition to with the above parameters chemical and electronic structure of the repeating unit of conjugated polymer also plays a role in charge separation efficiency. So far only three classes of electron transporting polymers, CN substituted PPV, 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derived polymers and rylene diimide derived polymers, are used in APSC. Thus to enhance the charge separation efficiency new classes of electron transporting polymers with the above characteristics need to be synthesized. I have developed a new straightforward synthetic strategy to rapidly generate new classes of electron transporting polymers with different chemical and electronic structure, broad absorption range, and high electron mobility from readily available electron deficient monomers. In APSCs due to low entropy of mixing, polymers tend to micro-phase segregate rather than forming the more useful nano-phase segregation. Optimizing the polymer blend morphology to obtain nano-phase segregation is specific to the system under study, time consuming, and not trivial. Thus to avoid micro-phase segregation, nanoparticles of hole and electron transporters are synthesized and blended. But the PCE of nanoparticle blends are far less than those of polymer blends. This is mainly due to the: i) lack of optimal assembly of nanoparticles to facilitate charge transfer and transport processes; and ii) lack of control over the exciton and charge transport properties within the nanoparticles. Polymer packing within the nanoparticle controls the optoelectronic and charge transport properties of the nanoparticle. In this work I have shown that the solvent used to synthesize nanoparticles plays a crucial role in determining the assembly of polymer chains inside the nanoparticle there by affecting its exciton and charge transport processes. To obtain the optimal morphology for better charge transfer and transport, we have also synthesized nanoparticles of different radius with surfactants of opposite charge. We propose that depending on the radius and/or Coulombic interactions these nanoparticles can be assembled into mineral structure-types that are useful for photovoltaic devices.

Polymeric materials are attractive candidates for the fabrication of low cost, large area photovoltaic devices. Controlling the band gap of the electroactive polymer is an essential factor in optimizing the resulting devices. In this dissertation, a methodology for the synthesis of well-defined semiconducting materials with tunable band gaps is described. First, the synthesis, characterization, and computational analysis of a variety of trimers consisting of two 3-hexylthiophene units flanking a central moiety consisting of thiophene, or one of the electron donating monomers isothianaphthene or thieno[3,4,b]thiophene will be described. From this analysis the influences of the electronic and steric structure of the materials will be investigated. Several of these trimers will then be used in the synthesis of well-defined, higher order, oligomers of thiophene and isothianaphthene in varying compositions. Polymerization of these oligomers yields polymers of known sequence allowing the band gap of the polymers to be systematically varied. Finally, preliminary investigations into the development of alternate oligomer core units will be described. The control over the band gap that this method affords will be useful in the optimization of polymeric semiconductor devices.

<p>Kyle Weideman PhD Thesis</p>

No description available.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(エネルギー科学) / 甲第24302号 / エネ博第453号 / 新制||エネ||85(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー基礎科学専攻 / (主査)教授 佐川 尚, 教授 萩原 理加, 教授 野平 俊之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Energy Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

A market review on Hybrid Inverters with Back-Up (HIBU) is presented, selecting products from eleven global inverter manufacturers. A systemic review of all the productsis performed, along with a general comparison of their main features. Trends in power ranges, battery voltages, back-up connection scheme and switching times are then highlighted and other more peculiar characteristics are assessed. A focus on potential applications in the Swedish market is put, considering an average Swedish household consumption profile. Ten from the available software for modeling photovoltaics applications are then reviewed finding PVsyst, Homer and SAM the most suitable tools for computing systems with HIBU. Finally, a case study is simulated on PVsyst showing the influence of the battery size on the percentage of covered load for different values of grid availability. The influence of different locations and different battery discharging strategies is also assessed, critically evaluating the reliability of the model used on PVsyst and stating the main shortcomings.

No description available.