Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is a leading thin film photovoltaic (PV) material due to its near ideal band gap of 1.45 eV, its high optical absorption coefficient and availability of various device fabrication methods. Superstrate CdTe solar cells fabricated on glass have to-date exhibited efficiencies of 16.5%. Work on substrate devices has been limited due to difficulties associated with the formation of an ohmic back contact with CdTe. The most promising approach used to-date is based on the use of an interlayer between the CdTe and a metal electrode, an approach that is believed to yield a pseudo-ohmic contact. This research investigates the use of ZnTe and Sb2Te3 as the interlayer, in the development of efficient back contacts. Excellent adhesion and minimum stress are also required of a CdTe thin film solar cell device on a flexible stainless steel (SS) foil substrate. Foil substrate curvature, flaking, delamination and adhesion as a result of compressive strain due to the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the flexible SS foil substrate and the solar cell films have been studied. A potential problem with the use of a SS foil as the substrate is the diffusion of iron (Fe), chromium (Cr) and other elemental impurities into the layers of the solar cell device structure during high temperature processing. A diffusion barrier limiting the out diffusion of these substrate elements is being investigated in this study. Silicon nitride (Si3N4) films deposited on SS foils are being investigated as the barrier layer, to reduce or inhibit the diffusion of substrate impurities into the solar cell. Thin film CdTe solar cells have been fabricated and characterized by AFM, XRD, SEM, ASTM D3359-08 tape test, current-voltage (I-V) and spectral measurements. My individual contributions to this work include the Molybdenum (Mo) development, the adhesion studies, the silicon nitride (Si3N4) barrier studies, and EDS and SEM lines measurements and analysis of substrate out-diffused impurities. The rest of my colleagues focused on the development of CdTe, CdS, ZnTe, the CdCl2 heat treatment, and other back contact interlayer materials.

Les pérovskites hybrides halogénées sont une nouvelle classe de semi-conducteurs polyvalents se proposant d'allier hautes performances, bas coût et processabilité en vue d'applications variées comme le photovoltaïque ou l'émission de lumière. Leur développement à grande échelle se heurte cependant à leur faible stabilité dans les dispositifs. Depuis quelques années, des groupes de chercheurs se sont particulièrement intéressés aux pérovskites hybrides à 2 dimensions (2D). Cette sous-catégorie de pérovskite est bien plus stable et offre une meilleure flexibilité chimique que leurs cousines 3D. Cependant, leurs performances restent limitées par la faible maitrise des méthodes de synthèses. En outre, de nombreux efforts sont encore à faire pour la compréhension de leurs propriétés intrinsèques, notamment via l'étude de monocristaux. Nous avons mis au point une méthode de synthèse par diffusion d’anti-solvant (AVC) permettant de synthétiser des monocristaux de pérovskites 2D telles que (PEA)2PbI4 et (PEA)2(MA)Pb2I7. Cette méthode a été de plus adaptée pour la synthèse de couches minces monocristallines. L’incorporation de ces couches minces dans des dispositifs pourrait permettre en théorie de se rapprocher des performances intrinsèques du matériau. Nous avons de plus synthétisé des nouvelles pérovskites 2D fonctionnalisées par des molécules de luminophore en tant que partie organique. L’étude spectroscopique de ces pérovskites met en évidence des probables transferts de charge entre les deux parties organique et inorganique. Ce type de pérovskite pourrait trouver un intérêt dans le photovoltaïque car il permettrait de séparer l’exciton fortement lié dans les pérovskites 2D. / Hybrid halide perovskites are new class of high-end semiconductors that combine high performances, low cost and low temperature proccessability for different application such as photovoltaics or light-emitting devices. Their large-scale commercialization is however hindered by their poor stability. For a few years, many groups started to grow interest in 2-dimensional (2D) hybrid perovskites. This subclass of perovskite is much more stable than their 3D counterparts, and offers more chemical flexibility. Yet their performances are limited by the bad quality of the spin-coated layers. Moreover an increase in the understanding of their intrinsic properties is necessary. This last point could be solved by the study of single crystals. We developped therefore a new anti-solvant, vapor-assisted crystallization (AVC) method for the growth of (PEA)2PbI4 and (PEA)2(MA)Pb2I7. Furthermore, a capped AVC process (AVCC) was developped for the growth of 2D perovskites single crystalline thin films. These films might help getting closer to the intrinsic limits of the material. We also synthesized new 2D luminophore-functionalized perovskite systems. The spectroscopic studies of this material highlighted a possible charge transfer between the two moities of the perovskite. This kind of perovskite could help improving the photovoltaic performances of 2D perovskite thanks to the splitting of the strongly bounded exciton.

abstract: The primary goal of this thesis is to evaluate the influence of ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyolefin elastomer (POE) encapsulant types on the glass-glass (GG) photovoltaic (PV) module reliability. The influence of these two encapsulant types on the reliability of GG modules was compared with baseline glass-polymer backsheet (GB) modules for a benchmarking purpose. Three sets of modules, with four modules in each set, were constructed with two substrates types i.e. glass-glass (GG) and glass- polymer backsheet (GB); and 2 encapsulants types i.e. ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyolefin elastomer (POE). Each module set was subjected to the following accelerated tests as specified in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard and Qualification Plus protocol of NREL: Ultraviolet (UV) 250 kWh/m2; Thermal Cycling (TC) 200 cycles; Damp Heat (DH) 1250 hours. To identify the failure modes and reliability issues of the stressed modules, several module-level non-destructive characterizations were carried out and they include colorimetry, UV-Vis-NIR spectral reflectance, ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF) imaging, electroluminescence (EL) imaging, and infrared (IR) imaging. The above-mentioned characterizations were performed on the front side of the modules both before the stress tests (i.e. pre-stress) and after the stress tests (i.e. post-stress). The UV-250 extended stress results indicated slight changes in the reflectance on the non-cell area of EVA modules probably due to minor adhesion loss at the cell and module edges. From the DH-1250 extended stress tests, significant changes, in both encapsulant types modules, were observed in reflectance and UVF images indicating early stages of delamination. In the case of the TC-200 stress test, practically no changes were observed in all sets of modules. From the above short-term stress tests, it appears although not conclusive at this stage of the analysis, delamination seems to be the only failure mode that could possibly be affecting the module performance, as observed from UV and DH extended stress tests. All these stress tests need to be continued to identify the wear-out failure modes and their impacts on the performance parameters of PV modules. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2020

abstract: The maximum theoretical efficiency of a terrestrial non-concentrated silicon solar cell is 29.4%, as obtained from detailed balance analysis. Over 90% of the current silicon photovoltaics market is based on solar cells with diffused junctions (Al-BSF, PERC, PERL, etc.), which are limited in performance by increased non-radiative recombination in the doped regions. This limitation can be overcome through the use of passivating contacts, which prevent recombination at the absorber interfaces while providing the selectivity to efficiently separate the charge carriers generated in the absorber. This thesis aims at developing an understanding of how the material properties of the contact affect device performance through simulations.The partial specific contact resistance framework developed by Onno et al. aims to link material behavior to device performance specifically at open circuit. In this thesis, the framework is expanded to other operating points of a device, leading to a model for calculating the partial contact resistances at any current flow. The error in calculating these resistances is irrelevant to device performance resulting in an error in calculating fill factor from resistances below 0.1% when the fill factors of the cell are above 70%, i.e., for cells with good passivation and selectivity. Further, silicon heterojunction (SHJ) and tunnel-oxide based solar cells are simulated in 1D finite-difference modeling package AFORS-HET. The effects of material property changes on device performance are investigated using novel contact materials like Al0.8Ga0.2As (hole contact for SHJ) and ITO (electron contact for tunnel-oxide cells). While changing the bandgap and electron affinity of the contact affect the height of the Schottky barrier and hence contact resistivity, increasing the doping of the contact will increase its selectivity. In the case of ITO, the contact needs to have a work function below 4.2 eV to be electron selective, which suggests that other low work function TCOs (like AZO) will be more applicable as alternative dopant-free electron contacts. The AFORS-HET model also shows that buried doped regions arising from boron diffusion in the absorber can damage passivation and decrease the open circuit voltage of the device. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Materials Science and Engineering 2020

Harnessing the Sun’s energy via the conversion of solar photons to electricity has emerged as a sustainable energy source to fulfill our future demands. In this regard, solution-processable, size-tunable PbS quantum dots (QDs) have been identified as a promising active materials for photovoltaics (PVs). Yet, there are still serious challenges that hinder the full exploitation of QD materials in PVs. This dissertation addresses two main challenges to aid these QDs in fulfilling their tremendous potential in PV applications. First, it is essential to establish a large-scale synthetic technique which maintains control over the reaction parameters to yield QDs with well-defined shape, size, and composition. Rigorous protocols for cost-effective production on a scale are still missing from literature. Particularly, previous reports of record-performance QD-PVs have been based on small-scale, manual, batch syntheses. One way to achieve a controlled large-scale synthesis is by reducing the reaction volume to ensure uniformity. Accordingly, we design a droplet-based continuous-flow synthesis of PbS QDs. Only upon separating the nucleation and growth phases, via a dual-temperature-stage reactor, it was possible to achieve high-quality QDs with high photoluminescence quantum yield (50%) in large-scale. The performance of these QDs in a PV device was comparable to batch-synthesized QDs, thus providing a promise in utilizing automated synthesis of QDs for PV applications. Second, it is crucial to study and control the charge transfer (CT) dynamics at QD interfaces in order to optimize their PV performance. Yet, the CT investigations based on PbS QDs are limited in literature. Here, we investigate the CT and charge separation (CS) at size-tunable PbS QDs and organic acceptor interfaces using a combination of femtosecond broadband transient spectroscopic techniques and steady-state measurements. The results reveal that the energy band alignment, tuned by the quantum confinement, is a key element for efficient CT and CS processes. Additionally, the presence of interfacial electrostatic interaction between the QDs and the acceptors facilitates CT from large PbS QD (bandgap < 1 eV); thus enabling light-harvesting from the broad near-infrared solar spectrum range. The advances in this work – from automated synthesis to charge transfer studies – pave new pathways towards energy harvesting from solution-processed nanomaterials.

Photovoltaics provide a feasible route to fulfilling the substantial increase in demand for energy worldwide. Solution processable organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have attracted attention in the last decade because of the promise of low-cost manufacturing of sufficiently efficient devices at high throughput on large-area rigid or flexible substrates with potentially low energy and carbon footprints. In OPVs, the photoactive layer is made of a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layer and is typically composed of a blend of an electron-donating (D) and an electron-accepting (A) materials which phase separate at the nanoscale and form a heterojunction at the D-A interface that plays a crucial role in the generation of charges. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in increasing the efficiency of organic photovoltaics over the last few years, with power conversion efficiency increasing from 8% to 13% over the duration of this PhD dissertation, there have been numerous debates on the mechanisms of formation of the crucial BHJ layer and few clues about how to successfully transfer these lessons to scalable processes. This stems in large part from a lack of understanding of how BHJ layers form from solution. This lack of understanding makes it challenging to design BHJs and to control their formation in laboratory-based processes, such as spin-coating, let alone their successful transfer to scalable processes required for the manufacturing of organic solar cells. Consequently, the OPV community has in recent years sought out to better understand the key characteristics of state of the art lab-based organic solar cells and made efforts to shed light on how the BHJ forms in laboratory-based processes as well as in scalable processes. We take the view that understanding the formation of the solution-processed bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photoactive layer, where crucial photovoltaic processes take place, is the one of the most crucial steps to developing strategies towards the implementation of organic solar cells with high efficiency and manufacturability. In this dissertation, we investigate the mechanism of the BHJ layer formation during solution processing from common lab-based processes, such as spin-coating, with the aim of understanding the roles of materials, formulations and processing conditions and subsequently using this insight to enable the scalable manufacturing of high efficiency organic solar cells by such methods as wire-bar coating and blade-coating. To do so, we have developed state-of-the-art in situ diagnostics techniques to provide us with insight into the thin film formation process. As a first step, we have developed a modified spin-coater which allows us to perform in situ UV-visible absorption measurements during spin coating and provides key insight into the formation and evolution of polymer aggregates in solution and during the transformation to the solid state. Using this method, we have investigated the formation of organic BHJs made of a blend of poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and fullerene, reference materials in the organic solar cell field. We show that process kinetics directly influence the microstructure and morphology of the bulk heterojunction, highlighting the value of in situ measurements. We have investigated the influence of crystallization dynamics of a wide-range of small-molecule donors and their solidification pathways on the processing routes needed for attaining high-performance solar cells. The study revealed the reason behind the need of empirically-adopted processing strategies such as solvent additives or alternatively thermal or solvent vapor annealing for achieving optimal performance. The study has provided a new perspective to materials design linking the need for solvent additives or annealing to the ease of crystallization of small-molecule donors and the presence or absence of transient phases before crystallization. From there, we have extended our investigation to small-molecule (p-DTS (FBTTh2)2) fullerene blend solar cells, where we have revealed new insight into the crucial role of solvent additives. Our work has also touched upon modern polymers, such as PBDTTPD, where we have found the choice of additives impacts the formation mechanism of the BHJ. Finally, we have performed a comparative study of the BHJ film formation dynamics during spin coating versus wire-bar coating of p-DTS(FBTTh2)2: fullerene blends that has helped in curbing the performance gap between lab-based and scalable techniques. This was done by implementing a new apparatus that combines the benefits of rapid thin film drying common to spin coating with scalability of wire-bar coating. Using the new apparatus, we successfully attain similar performance of solar cell devices to the ones fabricated by spin coating with dramatically reduced material waste.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have received tremendous attention in recent years due to their numerous attractive attributes such as, the potential for high power conversion efficiency (PCE), mechanical flexibility, and the potential for large-scale manufacturing via low-cost techniques. To date, the record PCE values for bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) OPVs exceed 18% for single-junction cells thanks to the rapid development of donors and acceptors materials for active layer. However, the progress of hole-transporting layer (HTL) systems, which is a key device component to reduce the additional performance losses of OPVs, has been limited with only a handful of materials available like PEDOT:PSS and MoOX. In this thesis, I introduce serval materials to unitize as hole-selective contact in high-performance OPVs. Firstly, the application of liquid-exfoliated two-dimensional transition metal disulfides (TMDs) is demonstrated as the HTLs in OPVs. The solution processing of few-layer WS2 suspensions was directly spun onto transparent indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes yield solar cells with superior power conversion efficiency (PCE), improved fill-factor (FF), enhanced short-circuit current (JSC), and lower series resistance than devices based on PEDOT:PSS. Based on PM6:Y6:PC71BM BHJ layer, the cells with WS2 HTL exhibit the highest PCE of 17% thanks to the favorable photonic structure and reduced bimolecular recombination losses in WS2-based cells. Next, the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) namely 2PACz is utilized as hole-selective contact directly onto the ITO anode. The 2PACz modifies the work function of ITO while simultaneously affecting the BHJ layer’s morphology deposited atop. This ITO-2PACz anode is utilized in OPV with PM6:BTP-eC9:PC71BM, showing a remarkable PCE of 18.0%. The enhanced performance is attributed to reduced contact-resistance, lower bimolecular recombination losses, and improved charge transport within the BHJ layer. Lastly, the previously 2PACz SAM was functionalized with bromide functional groups, namely Br-2PACz, which is investigated as hole-extracting interlayers in OPVs. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy of Br-2PACz was measured at -6.01 eV, and significant changes the work function of ITO electrodes upon chemical functionalization. OPV cells based on PM6:BTP-eC9:PC71BM using ITO/Br-2PACz anodes exhibit a maximum PCE of 18.4%, outperforming devices with ITO/PEDOT:PSS (17.5%), resulting from lower interface resistance, improved hole transport, and longer carrier lifetimes.

This work studies the subject of perovskite solar cells. The structure of perovskites is described along with a portion of photovoltaics history that led to the employment of perovskites as absorpsion layers. Further, methods of measurement for solar cells such as impedance spectroscopy, photospectroscopy and load characteristics are summarized. Lastly there is a description of already done analytics of perovskite solar cells with the summary of the results. In the practical part, there are measurements made to find out any effect of cell topology or light source wavelength on the cell performance.

Organická elektronika je dynamické, rychle se rozvíjející odvětví. Studium nových materiálů pro organickou elektroniku je důležitým úkolem jak z hlediska výkonnosti budoucích zařízení a ekonomičnosti procesů, tak z hlediska vlivu jejich používání na životní prostředí. Deriváty diketopyrrolopyrrolu patří mezi zajímavé materiály, které jsou v posledních letech studovány s ohledem na využití v organické elektronice. Dizertační práce je zaměřena na studium těchto materiálů a jejich jak optickou, tak i elektrickou charakterizaci. Součástí je také zhodnocení jejich potenciální aplikace v organické elektronice a návrhy optimalizace jejich výkonu. Teoretická část práce popisuje současný stav na poli organické elektroniky zaměřený na materiály na bázi diketopyrrolopyrrolu. Následující výsledková část shrnuje podstatné výsledky práce a obsahuje stručný úvod k přiloženým publikacím, včetně zhodnocení vlastního přínosu autora k jednotlivým publikacím. Výsledková část dále sestává z 6 vědeckých publikací, které jsou nedílnou součástí této práce a jsou tematicky propojeny v oblasti organické elektroniky, nových materiálů na bázi diketopyrrolopyrrolu a jejich aplikací. Z formálního hlediska je práce na základě čl. 42 odstavce 1b Studijního a zkušebního řádu VUT koncipovaná jako tematicky uspořádaný soubor uveřejněných prací a prací přijatých k publikaci.

This diploma thesis is focused on the assessment of the possibilities of disposal of photovoltaic panels installed in the Czech Republic. In addition to the basic theory of photovoltaic cells and panels, the theoretical parts describe legislation, subsidies in the field of photovoltaics and the development of photovoltaics in the Czech Republic. As part of recycling, their methods, work with the collective system, as well as the impact on the environment are analyzed. In the experimental part, using the data of the installed capacity and the average weights of the panels, various projections of the disposal of the panels over time are made, which take into account factors such as the life of the power plant or the capacity of the recycling line. Furthermore, according to the available literature, an analysis of the revenue from the sale of recycled materials contained in panels installed in our territory is performed. Subsequently, the needs of future implementers of proven estimates of labor and logical demands were assessed. Finally, an economic evaluation of the fundamental aspects of the FRELP recycling process was performed and the net prices of different recycling directions were determined.