Spectrum-splitting is a multijunction photovoltaic technology that can effectively improve the conversion efficiency and reduce the cost of photovoltaic systems. Microscale PV design integrates a group of microconcentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems into an array. It retains the benefits of CPV and obtains other benefits such as a compact form, improved heat rejection capacity, and more versatile PV cell interconnect configurations. We describe the design and performance of a two-junction holographic spectrum-splitting micro-CPV system that uses GaAs wide bandgap and silicon narrow bandgap PV cells. The performance of the system is simulated with a nonsequential raytracing model and compared to the performance of the highest efficiency PV cell used in the micro-CPVarray. The results show that the proposed system reaches the conversion efficiency of 31.98% with a quantum concentration ratio of 14.41x on the GaAs cell and 0.75x on the silicon cell when illuminated with the direct AM1.5 spectrum. This system obtains an improvement over the best bandgap PV cell of 20.05%, and has an acceptance angle of +/- 6 deg allowing for tolerant tracking. (C) 2017 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules have the advantage of lower manufacturing cost as compared to their monocrystalline counterparts, but generally exhibit both lower initial module efficiencies and more significant early-stage efficiency degradation than do similar monocrystalline PV modules. For both technologies, noticeable deterioration in power conversion efficiency typically occurs over the first two years of usage. Estimating PV lifetime by examining the performance degradation behavior under given environmental conditions is, therefore, one of continual goals for experimental research and economic analysis. In the present work, accelerated lifecycle testing (ALT) on three polycrystalline PV technologies was performed in a full-scale, industrial-standard environmental chamber equipped with single-sun irradiance capability, providing an illumination uniformity of 98% over a 2 x 1.6m area. In order to investigate environmental aging effects, time-dependent PV performance (I-V characteristic) was evaluated over a recurring, compressed day-night cycle, which simulated local daily solar insolation for the southwestern United States, followed by dark (night) periods. During a total test time of just under 4 months that corresponded to a year equivalent exposure on a fielded module, the temperature and humidity varied in ranges from 3 degrees C to 40 degrees C and 5% to 85% based on annual weather profiles for Tucson, AZ. Removing the temperature de-rating effect that was clearly seen in the data enabled the computation of normalized efficiency degradation with time and environmental exposure. Results confirm the impact of environmental conditions on the module long-term performance. Overall, more than 2% efficiency degradation in the first year of usage was observed for all thee polycrystalline Si solar modules. The average 5-year degradation of each PV technology was estimated based on their determined degradation rates.

It is well known that the efficiency of a photovoltaic (PV) module is strongly impacted by its temperature such that higher temperatures lead to lower energy conversion efficiencies. An accurate measurement of the temperature de-rating effect, therefore, is vital to the correct interpretation of PV module performance under varied environmental conditions. The current work investigates and compares methods for performing measurements of module temperature both in the lab and in field-test environments. A comparison of several temperature measurement devices was made in order to establish the ideal sensor configuration for quantifying module operating temperature. Sensors were also placed in various locations along a string of up to eight photovoltaic modules to examine the variance in operating temperature with position in the string and within a larger array of strings.

In this project, the correction factor of different solar panels of the laboratory of the University of Gävle, located in Sweden, is going to evaluated. The solar modules’working conditions are different from the ones used to test them in the laboratory. In the laboratory. the output energy of the modules is less than in working conditions,and therefore a correction factor is going to be calculated from the data collected, inorder to describe the factors that affect the performance of the solar modules.Also, the obtained correction factor validity for different PV systems it is going to be examined, determining which system has a better correction factor and the energy losses due to temperature, angle of incidence and micro invertor.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / Thermophotovoltaic cells are a good candidate for use in high efficiency radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) power devices for deep space missions. This thesis examines the use of Silvaco Virtual Wafer Fabrication Software as a tool for designing and optimizing TPV cells for different possible spectra. It gives results for GaSb and InGaAs cells optimized to the AM0 spectrum which closely match published data as well as hypothetical cells optimized to the spectrum of a 1300K blackbody. / Ensign, United States Navy

The present work focuses on two strategies contributing to the development of high efficiency, cost-effective photovoltaic (PV) technology for renewable energy generation: the design of new materials offering enhanced opto-electronic performance and the investigation of material degradation processes and their role in predicting the long-term reliability of PV modules in the field. The first portion of the present work investigates the integration of a novel CdTe-ZnO nanocomposite material as a spectral sensitizer component within a thin-film, hybrid heterojunction (HJ) PV device structure. Quantum-scale semiconductors have the potential to improve PV device performance through enhanced spectral absorption and photocarrier transport. This is realized via appropriate design of the semiconductor nanophase (providing tunable spectral absorption) and its spatial distribution within an electrically active matrix (providing long-range charge transport). Here, CdTe nanocrystals, embedded in an electrically active ZnO matrix, form a nanocomposite (NC) offering control of both spectral absorption and photocarrier transport behavior through the manipulation of nanophase assembly (ensemble effects). A sequential radio- frequency (RF) magnetron sputter deposition technique affords the control of semiconductor nanophase spatial distribution relative to the HJ plane in a hybrid, ZnO-P3HT test structure. Energy conversion performance (current density-voltage (J-V) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) response) was examined as a function of the location of the CdTe nanophase absorber region using both one dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) and the experimental examination of analogous P3HT-ZnO based hybrid thin films. Enhancement in simulated EQE over a spectral range consistent with the absorption region of the CdTe nanophase (i.e. 400–475 nm) is confirmed in the experimental studies. Moreover, a trend of decreasing quantum efficiency in this spectral range with increasing separation between the CdTe nanophase region and the heterojunction plane is observed. The results are interpreted in terms of carrier scattering/recombination length mitigating the successful transport of carriers across the junction. The second portion of the research addresses the need for robust PV performance in commercial module as a primary contributor to cost-effective operation in both distributed systems and utility scale generation systems. The understanding of physical and chemical mechanisms resulting in the degradation of materials of construction used in PV modules is needed to understand the contribution of these processes to module integrity and performance loss with time under varied application environments. In this context, the second part of present study addresses microcracking in Si–an established degradation process contributing to PV module power loss. The study isolates microcrack propagation in single-crystal Si, and investigates the effect of local environment (temperature, humidity) on microcrack elongation under applied strains. An investigation of microindenter-induced crack evolution with independent variation of both temperature and vapor density was pursued in PV-grade Si wafers. Under static tensile strain conditions, an increase in sub-critical crack elongation with increasing atmospheric water content was observed. To provide further insight into the potential physical and chemical conditions at the microcrack tip, micro-Raman measurements were performed. Preliminary results confirm a spatial variation in the frequency of the primary Si vibrational resonance within the crack-tip region, associated with local stress state, whose magnitude is influenced by environmental conditions during the period of applied static strain. The experimental effort was paired with molecular dynamics (MD) investigations of microcrack evolution in single-crystal Si to furnish additional insight into mechanical contributions to crack elongation. The MD results demonstrate that crack-tip energetics and associated cracking crystal planes and morphology are intimately related to the crack and applied strain orientations with respect to the principal crystallographic axes. The resulting fracture surface energy and the stress-strain response of the Si under these conditions form the basis for preliminary micro-scale peridynamics (PD) simulations of microcrack development under constant applied strain. These efforts were integrated with the experimental results to further inform the mechanisms contributing to this important degradation mode in Si-based photovoltaics.

No description available.

M.Sc. / Current solar cell research programmes in general aim to develop a high conversion efficiency photovoltaic (PV) module from high quality thin films. In this study, Cu (In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films were grown and characterized. These films were grown by selenization of Cu-In-Ga precursors. These precursors were prepared by co-sputtering In and (Cu, Ga). All the precursors were grown on Mo coated soda lime glass substrates. The selenization was conducted under different conditions in Ar/H2Se atmosphere, i.e. taking different values of flow rate of H2Se (5.00, 1.00, 0.25 mol%) in Ar, temperature (350, 450, 550 ºC) and time (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 min). At each selenization condition, two samples were placed at different positions in the chamber. The structural properties of the produced films were analyzed by the techniques of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) for phases, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for morphology and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) for the bulk composition. The effect of temperature variation, the effect of flow rate variation and the effect of time variation were analyzed by comparing the structural properties as analyzed by the techniques mentioned. All in all this specific study delivers important information about the sensitivity of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films to the temperature, gas flow rate and exposure time of the selenization step. / Doctor C.A. Engelbrecht Professor Vivian Alberts

Organic semiconducting materials have been attracted considerable attention as a promising technology for the next generation flexible electronic devices, such as solar cells and field-effect transistors because of their advantages of low-cost, structural versatility and flexibility. Many organic semiconducting materials have been developed in recent years. In this thesis, four pi-conjugated building blocks based on benzodithiophene and quinoxalinedithienothiophene were applied to develop novel photovoltaic materials, including donor-acceptor alternating copolymers as a donor material for polymer solar cells, photosensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells, small molecule hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells and small molecule acceptors for organic solar cells. A comprehensive review of current development of organic photovoltaic materials was presented in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, a series of D-A copolymers (PBB-n) based on 4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole and 4,5-bis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b'] dithiophene attached with different solubilizing side-chains were designed, synthesised and characterized. In general, PBB-n polymers showed good absorption in the region of visible light and UV region, indicating such polymers are a promising light harvester. Also, PBB-n exhibited suitable energy levels, suggesting that they could be applied as the donor materials in polymer solar cells. PBB-n also exhibited various extent of aggregation behaviour. Chapter 3 described syntheses and the fluorination effect of two series of fluoro-substituted PBB-n copolymers, namely PfBB-n and PffBB-n on optical, electrochemical, and optoelectronic properties. Among them, PfBB-n series was characterized with photovoltaic performance. The champion devices fabricated from PfBB-12 showed a PCE as high as 9.7%, with a Voc of 0.92 V, a Jsc of 16.60 mA/cm-2 and a FF of 63.49%. Cells fabricated from other PfBB-n copolymers also exhibited good PV performance with PCE ranging from 7.4 - 8.5%. For PffBB-n polymers, temperature-dependent aggregation behaviour was exploited by modulating the coating temperature during device fabrication. PSC devices based on PffBB-n exhibited good PV performance with PCE ranging from 7.4% to 9.9%. Among which, PffBB-14 provided the most promising PV performance with PCE of 9.9%, a Voc of 0.92 V, a Jsc of 16.8 mA/cm-2 and a FF of 64.36%. Electron deficient conjugated structure was seldom used as the π-bridge in metal-free photosensitizers. In Chapter 4, four novel organic photosensitizers, namely QC5-m and PC5-n were designed with an electron deficient π-bridge. Typical sandwich-structured DSSCs based on the newly developed photosensitizers exhibited promising photovoltaic performance with PCE ranging from 5.23 - 7.77 %, with a maximum Jsc as high as 15.63 mA cm-2. These results suggest that the use of electron deficient π-bridge provides alternative approach to construct efficient organic photosensitizers. Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 described the design, synthesis and investigation of novel hole-transporting materials and electron acceptor materials based on benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene-4,5-dione derived building blocks as potential organic photovoltaic materials for solar cell applications. Keywords: organic photovoltaic materials, photosensitizers, polymer solar cell, electron acceptor, hole-transporting materials.

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Chemistry at University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2015. / Photovoltaic cells offer a good alternative to the fossil fuels. Several approaches are being analysed in order to have solar cells that are capable to conquer the energy market all around the world. Quantum dots (QDs) have already proven features that can be taken into account to improve the properties of solar cells. Metal selenide nanoparticles (NPs) possess semiconducting behaviours that can vary with their structural and optical properties evolving from their synthesis. The reaction parameters such as the method, time, solvent and precursors can affect the growth and nucleation of particles and thus impose on the properties of the synthesized materials. The performance of solar cells made of the synthesized metal selenides will then be dependent upon the properties of the NPs used as active layer. Furthermore, the electrical current generation also depends on the structure of the deposited active layer and its interface with other films to be assembled for the device. The binary copper selenide, ternary copper indium selenide (CISe), quaternary copper indium gallium selenide (CIGSe) and quinary copper zinc tin sulphur selenide (CZTSSe) NPs were synthesized via conventional colloidal method (CCM) and microwave assisted method (MAM). The MAM has a particular interest as it is less time consuming and can easily be a large scale synthesis. Photovoltaic devices were fabricated from the synthesized materials as proof of concept for photovoltaic activities. The CCM was used to optimize various parameters for the synthesis of each type of the chalcogenide materials as this is easily controllable than the ones from the sealed vessel from MAM. The dependency of properties of all copper chalcogenide NPs on the time, precursor concentration, temperature and solvent of synthesis have been demonstrated via various characterization techniques including ultraviolet-visible-near infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. The binary copper selenide was first synthesized and considered as a template for evaluation of the use of copper chalcogenide materials in solar cells. Relatively smaller copper selenide NPs with average sizes of 4.5 and 6.0 nm were obtained from conventional colloidal and microwave assisted methods respectively. The sample yielded from the microwave assisted method possessed less polydispersed NPs. The later had better crystallinity in which prevailed a single cubic Cu2Se phase. To the best of our knowledge this is the first evidence of defined shapes and nearly single phase of small sized copper selenide NPs synthesized by mean of the MAM. The copper selenide particles synthesized via this method were used to fabricate a Schottky device. The conditions of copper selenide synthesis were optimized to 250 oC, 30 min of CCM synthesis using oleylamine (OLA) and a Cu/Se ratio of 1:1. Nearly hexagonal facets with blue-shifted absorption band edge of monodispersed NPs sizing 4-8 nm in diameter were obtained. The synthesized copper selenide showed better crystallinity with a single cubic Cu2Se phase. A Schottky device using MAM synthesized copper selenide NPs as the semiconducting layer was fabricated at room temperature. The diode effect was demonstrated with the electrical parameters such as the ideality factor, barrier height and the series resistances extracted from the experimental current-voltage data using the thermionic theory and Cheung’s modification. The thermionic theory resulted in the ideality factor of 4.35 and the barrier height of 0.895 eV whilst the Cheung’s method resulted in the ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance of 1.04, 2.59 10-3 eV and 0.870 Ω respectively. The ternary copper indium selenide NPs showed that the MAM allowed the formation of copper rich NPs alongside secondary products. The synthesis of the ternary sample via CCM was optimized using uncapped precursors (no TOP was added) in OLA at 220 oC for 30 min. The synthesized CuInSe2 NPs possessed a large blue-shift in their absorption band edges and emission peaks. The nearly stoichiometric CuInSe2 particles with diameter sizes of 5-9 nm were found in tetragonal crystalline orientation. The cyclic voltametry (CV) and the absorption spectra showed a large blue-shifted energy gap, about 0.95 eV, an increase from the bulk, proving the quantum confinement effects of synthesized copper indium selenide quantum dots. The CuInSe2 NPs were thus used as absorbing materials in the quantum dot sensitized solar cell devices (QDSSCs). The QDSSC devices were assembled via treatment of the titanium oxide, quantum dot layers and their interface. This was done by the treatment of copper indium selenide surface with mercapto-propionic acid (MPA) and ethanedithiol (EDT) during the deposition of the quantum dots onto TiO2 films. The MPA treatment did not reveal positive effects on copper indium selenide thin film and the assembled device under our optimized working conditions. However the use of EDT allowed the improvement of electron transport. The short circuit current (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) obtained from the current-voltage (J-V) curves reached the values of 324 μA cm-2, 487 mV and 43% respectively, indicating that the investigated quantum dots possess electrical properties. For the quaternary copper indium gallium selenide, relatively small sized NPs were synthesized via CCM and MAM. The CCM synthesized CIGSe NPs were less agglomerated with a shorter tailing in absorption than those from MAM. The stoichiometric CuIn0.75Ga0.25Se2 showed less agglomerated and highly crystalline particles with a large blueshifted absorption band edge and a smaller full width at halth maximum (FWHM) of the emission peak compared to CuIn0.5Ga0.5Se2 and CuIn0.25Ga0.75Se2. The use of OLA as solvent of synthesis improved the growth and dispersivity of copper indium gallium selenide NPs. The particles with a large blue-shifted absorption band edge, a lattice of tetragonal phase, more monodispersed CIGSe and possessing an average size of 6.5 nm were obtained from CCM synthesis using OLA. The OLA as-synthesized CIGSe NPs were used in thin film for the assembly of QDSSC. The device exhibited electrical properties with the Jsc, Voc and FF of 168 μA cm-2, 162 mV and 33% respectively. The overall device performance was poor but may further be improved for further photovoltaic application. The quinary CZTSSe NPs possessed large blue-shifted absorption band edges of 450-460 nm than the bulk material (827 nm). The emission peak at 532 nm and similar FWHM of less than 50 nm were observed in samples from both CCM and MAM. More monodispersed crystals were obtained with both methods whilst the average particle sizes of 10 and 9 nm were yielded from MAM and CCM respectively. The nanoparticles crystallized in tetragonal lattices between copper zinc tin sulphide and copper zinc tin selenide crystals. However, the MAM gave more crystalline phases. The CV and the absorption spectra showed a blue shifted energy gap, about 0.21 eV increase from the buk which is located at 1.51 eV. This is indicative of the quantum confinement effects of synthesized NPs. The evidence of electrical properties was also shown in the QDSSCs fabricated using the MAM synthesized quinary QDs. This was done following the same treatments as for copper indium selenide devices. The Jsc, Voc and FF were found at the maxima of 258 μA cm-2, 395 mV and 38% respectively. The MPA and EDT treatments did not improve the device performance under our working conditions. Nevertheless, the electrical properties observed in the assembled device were indicative of promising efficient solar cells from synthesized CZTSSe NPs.