abstract: Potential-Induced Degradation (PID) is an extremely serious photovoltaic (PV) durability issue significantly observed in crystalline silicon PV modules due to its rapid power degradation, particularly when compared to other PV degradation modes. The focus of this dissertation is to understand PID mechanisms and to develop PID-free cells and modules. PID-affected modules have been claimed to be fully recovered by high temperature and reverse potential treatments. However, the results obtained in this work indicate that the near-full recovery of efficiency can be achieved only at high irradiance conditions, but the full recovery of efficiency at low irradiance levels, of shunt resistance, and of quantum efficiency (QE) at short wavelengths could not be achieved. The QE loss observed at short wavelengths was modeled by changing the front surface recombination velocity. The QE scaling error due to a measurement on a PID shunted cell was addressed by developing a very low input impedance accessory applicable to an existing QE system. The impacts of silicon nitride (SiNx) anti-reflection coating (ARC) refractive index (RI) and emitter sheet resistance on PID are presented. Low RI ARC cells (1.87) were observed to be PID-susceptible whereas high RI ARC cells (2.05) were determined to be PID-resistant using a method employing high dose corona charging followed by time-resolved measurement of surface voltage. It has been demonstrated that the PID could be prevented by deploying an emitter having a low sheet resistance (~ 60 /sq) even if a PID-susceptible ARC is used in a cell. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) results suggest that a high phosphorous emitter layer hinders sodium transport, which is responsible for the PID. Cells can be screened for PID susceptibility by illuminated lock-in thermography (ILIT) during the cell fabrication process, and the sample structure for this can advantageously be simplified as long as the sample has the SiNx ARC and an aluminum back surface field. Finally, this dissertation presents a prospective method for eliminating or minimizing the PID issue either in the factory during manufacturing or in the field after system installation. The method uses commercially available, thin, and flexible Corning® Willow® Glass sheets or strips on the PV module glass superstrates, disrupting the current leakage path from the cells to the grounded frame. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

abstract: Silicon photovoltaics (PV) is approaching its theoretical efficiency limit as a single-junction technology. To break this limit and further lower the PV-generated levelized cost of electricity, it is necessary to engineer a silicon-based “tandem” technology in which a solar cell of another material is stacked on top of silicon to make more efficient use of the full solar spectrum. This dissertation understands and develops four aspects of silicon-based tandem PV technology. First, a new “spectral efficiency” concept is proposed to understand how tandem cells should be designed and to identify the best tandem partners for silicon cells. Using spectral efficiency, a top-cell-design guide is constructed for silicon-based tandems that sets efficiency targets for top cells with various bandgaps to achieve targeted tandem efficiencies. Second, silicon heterojunction solar cells are tuned to the near-infrared spectrum to enable world-record perovskite/silicon tandems both in two- and four-terminal configurations. In particular, for the 23.6%-efficient two-terminal tandem, a single-side textured silicon bottom cell is fabricated with a low-refractive-index silicon nanoparticle layer as a rear reflector. This design boosts the current density to 18.5 mA/cm2; this value exceeds that of any other silicon bottom cell and matches that of the top cell. Third, “PVMirrors” are proposed as a novel tandem architecture to integrate silicon cells with various top cells. A strength of the design is that the PVMirror collects diffuse light as a concentrating technology. With this concept, a gallium-arsenide/silicon PVMirror tandem is demonstrated with an outdoor efficiency of 29.6%, with respect to the global irradiance. Finally, a simple and versatile analytical model is constructed to evaluate the cost competitiveness of an arbitrary tandem against its sub-cell alternatives. It indicates that tandems will become increasingly attractive in the market, as the ratio of sub-cell module cost to area-related balance-of-system cost—the key metric that will determine the market success or failure of tandems—is decreasing. As an evolution of silicon technology, silicon-based tandems are the future of PV. They will allow more people to have access to clean energy at ultra-low cost. This thesis defines both the technological and economic landscape of silicon-based tandems, and makes important contributions to this tandem future. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2018

Pour être viable économiquement, les cellules photovoltaïques organiques doivent dépasser 10 % de rendement et atteindre plusieurs milliers d'heure de durée de vie. Les cellules tandems constituent une voie probante d'augmentation des rendements. Ce travail de thèse a pour objectifs l'élaboration de cellules organiques tandems puis l'étude de leur fonctionnement et de leur vieillissement. Dans un premier temps, les paramètres gouvernant le rendement de cellules photovoltaïques organiques sont examinés sur le modèle de cellules simples à base de PCDTBT. Des caractérisations s'appuyant sur la spectroscopie d'impédance mettent en valeur le rôle joué par chacune des couches constitutives de la cellule. Dans un deuxième temps, un protocole de fabrication des cellules tandems connectées en série est établi. Celui-ci traite successivement les trois points critiques pour l'efficacité des tandems : choix des polymères aux absorptions complémentaires, puis mise au point de la couche intermédiaire (CI) et enfin optimisation des épaisseurs. Une attention particulière est portée au fonctionnement de la CI. Pour optimiser les épaisseurs, un programme de simulation des phénomènes optiques est élaboré et ses prédictions comparées aux résultats expérimentaux. Enfin, le vieillissement des cellules simples et tandems est étudié sur des temps de plusieurs centaines ou milliers d'heures. Les diminutions de performances observées sont liées à la dégradation des couches d'interface tandis que la couche active semble stable. Les cellules tandems organiques présentent un fort potentiel pour l'obtention de rendements élevés et stables dans le temps. / In order to reach commercialization, organic photovoltaic solar cells need to reach efficiencies above 10 % and achieve lifetimes of several thousands of hours. Tandem solar cells are a way of improving the efficiencies. The objectives of this work are therefore to study the fabrication process, the operation and the ageing of organic tandem solar cells. First, single solar cells based on the active material PCDTBT are used as model to investigate the factors governing the cells efficiencies. Using characterization techniques such as impedance spectroscopy, the roles played by each layer of the cells are identified. Based on these results, a protocol to make series tandem cells is developed. Each of its steps is dedicated to treating a key aspect of tandem cells : choice of complementary absorbing polymers, design of the intermediate layer (IML) and thickness optimization. The functioning of the IML is subjected to a particular attention. To optimize the thicknesses, optical phenomena are numerically simulated. The prediction thus made are then compared to experimental results. Finally, the ageing of single and tandem cells is investigated on time spans ranging from several dozens to several thousands of hours. It is shown that the device degradation can be linked to poor ageing of the interface layers, while the active layer stays stable. Organic tandem cells are promising candidates to reach both high efficiencies and long lifetime.

This thesis focuses on the mathematical analysis of two partial differential equation systems. Consistent improvement of mathematical computation allows more and more questions to be addressed in the form of numerical simulations. At the same time, novel materials arising from advances in physics and material sciences are creating new problems which must be addressed. This thesis is divided into two parts based on analysis of two such materials: organic semiconductors and graphene. In part one we derive a generalized reaction-drift-diffusion model for organic photovoltaic devices -- solar cells based on organic semiconductors. After formulating an appropriate self-consistent model (based largely on generalizing partly contradictory previous models), we study the operation of the device in several specific asymptotic regimes. Furthermore, we simulate such devices using a customized 2D hybrid discontinuous Galerkin finite element scheme and compare the numerical results to our asymptotics. Next, we use specialized asymptotic regimes applicable to a broad range of device parameters to justify several assumptions used in the formulation of simplified models which have already been discussed in the literature. We then discuss the potential applicability of the simulations to real devices by discussing which parameters will be the most important for a functioning device. We then give further generic 2D numerical results and discuss the limitations of the model in this regime. Finally, we give several perspectives on proving existence and uniqueness of the model. In part two we derive a second-order finite difference numerical scheme for simulation of the 2D Dirac equation and prove that the method converges in the electromagnetically static case. Of particular interest is the application to electrons in graphene. We demonstrate this convergence numerically with several examples for which explicit solutions are known and discuss the manner in which errors appear and propagate. We furthermore extend the Dirac system with Poisson's equation to investigate interesting electronic effects. In particular, we show that our numerical scheme can successfully simulate a beam-splitter and Veselago lens, both of which have been predicted analytically to appear in graphene.

The purpose of the master theses is to estimate gross direct financial cost brought about by support schemes for electricity generation in photovoltaic power plants in France, Italy and Belgium. In order to understand support schemes, I deal with legislation of each particular country and with its development. Based on development of subsidies for photovoltaics and production of electricity of new instalations I determine the final amount of costs. Individual outputs are subsequently compared with data regarding the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, UK, Greece and Slovakia.

Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells provide a promising alternative for harnessing solar energy. However, the efficient design of OPV materials that achieve better performance requires support by better-tailored visualization tools than are currently available, which is the goal of this thesis. One promising approach in the OPV field is to control the effective material of the OPV device, which is known as the Bulk-Heterojunction (BHJ) morphology. The BHJ morphology has a complex composition. Current BHJ exploration techniques deal with the morphologies as black boxes with no perception of the photoelectric current in the BHJ morphology. Therefore, this method depends on a trial-and-error approach and does not efficiently characterize complex BHJ morphologies. On the other hand, current state-of-the-art methods for assessing the performance of BHJ morphologies are based on the global quantification of morphological features. Accordingly, scientists in OPV research are still lacking a sufficient understanding of the best material design. To remove these limitations, we propose a new approach for knowledge-assisted visual exploration and analysis in the OPV domain. We develop new techniques for enabling efficient OPV charge transport path analysis. We employ, adapt, and develop techniques from scientific visualization, geometric modeling, clustering, and visual interaction to obtain new designs of visualization tools that are specifically tailored for the needs of OPV scientists. At the molecular scale, the user can use semantic rules to define clusters of atoms with certain geometric properties. At the nanoscale, we propose a novel framework for visual characterization and exploration of local structure-performance correlations. We also propose a new approach for correlating structural features to performance bottlenecks. We employ a visual feedback strategy that allows scientists to make intuitive choices about fabrication parameters. We furthermore propose a visual analysis framework to help answer domain science questions through parameter space exploration for local morphology features. This framework is built on the shape-based clustering of local regions (patches), which for the first time enables local analysis of BHJ morphologies. Using our proposed system, domain experts can interactively create and visualize new BHJ structures of interest at both the molecular and nanoscale levels in a relatively short time.

Le besoin d'énergies propres et renouvelables, et en calculs numériques de plus en plus performant ont été deux des moteurs de la recherche mondiale. Les multiferroiques (matériaux présentant plusieurs ordres ferroiques couplés) ont pendant longtemps été étudiés pour des applications électroniques. Récemment, leur interaction avec la lumière a été considéré pour des applications photovoltaique. Leur grande bande interdite et la faible mobilité de leur porteurs sont néanmoins des freins à la conversion efficace de l'énergie solaire en électricité.Cependant, les matériaux multiferroiques présentent un nombre important de degrés de libertés, et leur interaction avec la lumière ne peut être réduite au seul effet photovoltaique. Ici, l'interaction lumière-multiferroique est d'abord considéré au travers de l'effet de photostriction (changement de longueur sous illumination). Les calculs ab-initio montrent que, dans le bismuth de ferrite, la photostriction peut être comprise comme un effect d'écrantage de la polarisation à l'échelle de la maille primitive, et de l'effet piézoélectrique inverse. Une solution solide de plomb nickel niobium et de titanate de plomb, présentant un fort effet piézoélectrique à sa frontière morphotropique est ensuite synthétisée et caractérisée pour ces propriétés optiques et électriques. Le rôle des défauts dans la grande conductivité des parois de domaines est aussi étudié, et des calculs de la théorie de la fonctionnelle densité montrent que les défauts se forment préférentiellement à la paroi, et y procure une plus grande densité de charges libres. Enfin, nous détaillons les dernières avancées d'un couplage de type spin-orbite, le couplage angulaire magnéto-électrique, et son application à la génération de champs magnétiques par une lumière polarisée circulairement. / The need for clean and renewable energy, as well as constantly improved numerical performances have been two of the most important driving forces in research worldwide. In this light, multiferroic materials, which are materials presenting several ferroic order, have been widely investigated towards their application in electronics and computation, or as sensors. Recently, they have been also considered for their potential use to generate energy through the photovoltaic effect. However, power conversion have remained poor compared to existing technologies such as p-n junction silicon based solar cells, mainly because of their wide bandgap and low mobility of the carriers. Nevertheless, multiferroic materials often present a vast number of degrees of freedom, and their interaction with light cannot be reduced to the sole photovoltaic effect.In this work, we study from first-principles the interaction of light and strain in the multiferroic bismuth ferrite, and find that the so-called photostriction effect originates from a screening of the polarization at the unit cell scale, which results in a photo-induced strain via the action of the converse piezoelectric effect. A solid solution of lead nickel niobium and lead titanate, exhibiting large electromechanical properties at its morphotropic phase boundary, is then synthesized, and its optical and photoinduced properties are studied. Also, the influence of defects at domain walls in the model ferroelectric lead titanate is studied from ab-initio calculations, in order to understand why domain walls exhibit a large conductivity compared to the domains. It is found that defects are more likely to form at the domain wall, and provide it with extra-carriers. Eventually, the advances in a recently considered spin-orbit energy term, the Angular MagnetoElectric coupling (AME), are considered and applied to the Inverse Faraday Effect (IFE), that is the existence of a magnetic field induced by circularly polarized light.

The peak efficiency range for CdTe solar cells is between 500-700nm; however efficiencies are limited at wavelengths shorter than 500nm due to the fact that at higher energies, most photons are absorbed in the CdS layer of the module and cannot contribute to the cell current. This means that incident photons with higher energies are ‘wasted’ as they are not efficiently absorbed by the cell. Luminescent downshifting (LDS) is a third-generation photovoltaic technology in which an external layer applied to the front surface of the cell absorbs high energy photons and re-emits them towards the cell at energies where they are more efficiently absorbed, thus avoiding front surface loss mechanisms. This research project investigates the use of cerium and terbium co-doped silicon oxide thin films grown using electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (ECR PECVD) as a luminescent down-shifting layer. Post-deposition annealing in a quartz tube furnace caused the formation of cerium disilicate (Ce2Si2O7) nanocrystallites, which were found to strongly absorb incident light at wavelengths below 360 nm and efficiently sensitize Tb3+ ions in the film for re-emission. The effect of annealing time and sample composition on physical and optical properties was studied. Film compositions were determined through Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, revealing an incremental increase in rare earth concentration. Photoluminescence measurements showed a distinct Tb3+ peak around 550nm, which is close to the ideal efficiency wavelength for CdTe photovoltaics. Variable Angle Spectroscopic Ellipsometry measurements were used to determine the index of refraction of as-deposited and annealed films. UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy and transmission ellipsometry measurements showed a sharp increase in absorption around 400nm confirming wide separation between absorption and emission bands. When LDS films were coupled with thin film CdTe, subsequent absorption spectroscopy and transmission measurements showed stronger absorption at short wavelengths, as anticipated. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Organic Photovoltaic devices (OPV) are considered to be attractive candidates for clean and renewable energy source because of their potential for low cost of fabrication, easy processing, and their mechanical flexibility. The device efficiency of OPV cells are limited by several factors. Among them are: (i) donor-acceptor interface, (ii) morphology of the materials, (iii) electrode-organic semiconductor (OSC) interface and (iv) device architecture such as active material thickness and electrode separation. Although, the donor-acceptor interface has been studied in detail, the commonly prevalent vertical OPV device structure does not allow a good understanding of the other key issues as the vertical structure limits one of the electrode to be a transparent electrode as well as introducing inseparable relation between the electrodes separation and the active material thickness. In addition, it is also well known that the charge transport in OSC is anisotropic and the charge mobility is better in lateral direction rather than vertical direction. In order to address some of these issues, we fabricated OPV devices in a planar device structure where cathode and anode of dissimilar metals are in-plane with each other and their photovoltaic behaviors were studied. We used poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]- pheny1 C61-butyric acid methy1 ester (P3HT:PCBM) blend as an active material. In particular, we present a detailed study about the effects of the structural parameters such as the channel length, the active layer thickness, and the work function of the electrodes on the open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Isc), fill factor (FF) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE). In order to determine the suitable anode and cathode for the planar organic photovoltaic (P-OPV) structure, we first fabricated and measured organic field effect transistor (OFET) devices with different contacts and studied the effect of barrier height at the iv P3HT:PCBM/electrode interface on the device output and transport properties. The study showed a clear effect of varying the contact material on the charge injection mechanism and on the carriers mobilities. The results have also shown that Au with high hole mobility and on current in the p-channel can be used as an anode (holes extractor) in the P-OPV device while In, Cr, and Ti that showed a reasonable value of electron mobility can be good candidates for cathode (electron extractor). We also found that, Ag, Al, and Mg showed large barrier which resulted in large threshold voltage in the I-V curve making them undesired cathode materials in the P-OPV device. We then fabricated P-OPV devices with Au as an anode material and varied the cathode material to study the effect of the interface between the P3HT:PCBM layer and the cathode material. When Al, Mg, or Ag used as a cathode material no PV behavior was observed, while PV behavior was observed for In, Cr, and Ti cathode materials. The PV behavior and the characteristic parameters including Voc, Isc, FF and PCE were affected by varying the cathode material. The results have shown that the P-OPV device performance can be affected by the cathode material depending on the properties and the work function of the metal. We have also studied the effect of varying the P3HT:PCBM layer thickness at a fixed channel length for Cr and Ti cathode materials and Au as anode. While Voc and FF values do not change, Isc and PCE increase with increasing the layer thickness due to the increase of the light absorption and charges generation. Moreover, we studied the effect of varying the channel length at a fixed film thickness; and showed that the values of Isc and PCE increase with decreasing channel length while Voc and FF maintain the same value. In this thesis we will also present the results on experimentally defining and testing the illuminated area in the P-OPV device by using different measurement set-ups and different v electrodes patterns. The results prove that the illuminated area in the P-OPV device is the area enclosed between the two electrodes. Lastly, we will present the effect of the P3HT:PCBM ratio on the P-OPV device performance. We show that 1:2 ratio is the optimized ratio for the P-OPV device. The detailed results in this thesis show a potential opportunity to help improving and understanding the design of OPV device by understanding the effects of the device structural parameters.

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