Download or read book Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide Based Thin Film Solar Cells written by Kentaro Ito and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-12-11 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with an overview and historical background of Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide (CZTS) technology, subsequent chapters cover properties of CZTS thin films, different preparation methods of CZTS thin films, a comparative study of CZTS and CIGS solar cell, computational approach, and future applications of CZTS thin film solar modules to both ground-mount and rooftop installation. The semiconducting compound (CZTS) is made up earth-abundant, low-cost and non-toxic elements, which make it an ideal candidate to replace Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) and CdTe solar cells which face material scarcity and toxicity issues. The device performance of CZTS-based thin film solar cells has been steadily improving over the past 20 years, and they have now reached near commercial efficiency levels (10%). These achievements prove that CZTS-based solar cells have the potential to be used for large-scale deployment of photovoltaics. With contributions from leading researchers from academia and industry, many of these authors have contributed to the improvement of its efficiency, and have rich experience in preparing a variety of semiconducting thin films for solar cells.

Download or read book Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide Based Thin Film Solar Cells written by Kentaro Ito and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-02-23 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with an overview and historical background of Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide (CZTS) technology, subsequent chapters cover properties of CZTS thin films, different preparation methods of CZTS thin films, a comparative study of CZTS and CIGS solar cell, computational approach, and future applications of CZTS thin film solar modules to both ground-mount and rooftop installation. The semiconducting compound (CZTS) is made up earth-abundant, low-cost and non-toxic elements, which make it an ideal candidate to replace Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) and CdTe solar cells which face material scarcity and toxicity issues. The device performance of CZTS-based thin film solar cells has been steadily improving over the past 20 years, and they have now reached near commercial efficiency levels (10%). These achievements prove that CZTS-based solar cells have the potential to be used for large-scale deployment of photovoltaics. With contributions from leading researchers from academia and industry, many of these authors have contributed to the improvement of its efficiency, and have rich experience in preparing a variety of semiconducting thin films for solar cells.

Download or read book Copper Based Solar Cell Materials written by Fanuel Mugwang'a Keheze and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this work, CuxOy and ZnO: Al thin films on plain glass substrates have been deposited as single thin films for property characterization by reactive DC Magnetron Sputtering and evaporation techniques using an Edward Auto 306 Magnetron Sputtering System respectively. A CuxOy-ZnO: Al p-n junction was fabricated by reactive DC magnetron sputtering and reactive thermal evaporation technique on a glass slide with silver as contacts. Transmittance and reflectance data in the range 300 nm-2500 nm were obtained using UV-VIS NIR Spectrophotometer Solid State 3700 DUV for all the thin films samples that were prepared. Transmittance values of above 70% for Copper Oxide and above 80 % for AZO were observed. The optical measurements were simulated using SCOUT 98 software to determine optical constants and optical bad gap of the thin films. Band gap values of 1.62 eV - 2.54 eV are observed for Copper Oxide and 3.18 eV - 3.42 eV for AZO. The surface sheet resistivities at room temperature of 298 K were found to vary with the deposition parameters and film thickness. Urbach energy for AZO was found to increase with doping levels from 2.08 x 10-4 to 2.18x 10-4 and varied between 0.6 x10-4"

Download or read book Semiconductor Materials for Solar Photovoltaic Cells written by M. Parans Paranthaman and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-09-16 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the current status of semiconductor materials for conversion of sunlight to electricity, and highlights advances in both basic science and manufacturing. Photovoltaic (PV) solar electric technology will be a significant contributor to world energy supplies when reliable, efficient PV power products are manufactured in large volumes at low cost. Expert chapters cover the full range of semiconductor materials for solar-to-electricity conversion, from crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon to cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium sulfide selenides, dye sensitized solar cells, organic solar cells, and environmentally friendly copper zinc tin sulfide selenides. The latest methods for synthesis and characterization of solar cell materials are described, together with techniques for measuring solar cell efficiency. Semiconductor Materials for Solar Photovoltaic Cells presents the current state of the art as well as key details about future strategies to increase the efficiency and reduce costs, with particular focus on how to reduce the gap between laboratory scale efficiency and commercial module efficiency. This book will aid materials scientists and engineers in identifying research priorities to fulfill energy needs, and will also enable researchers to understand novel semiconductor materials that are emerging in the solar market. This integrated approach also gives science and engineering students a sense of the excitement and relevance of materials science in the development of novel semiconductor materials. · Provides a comprehensive introduction to solar PV cell materials · Reviews current and future status of solar cells with respect to cost and efficiency · Covers the full range of solar cell materials, from silicon and thin films to dye sensitized and organic solar cells · Offers an in-depth account of the semiconductor material strategies and directions for further research · Features detailed tables on the world leaders in efficiency demonstrations · Edited by scientists with experience in both research and industry

Download or read book Photoenergy and Thin Film Materials written by Xiao-Yu Yang and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the latest research & developments and future trends in photoenergy and thin film materials—two important areas that have the potential to spearhead the future of the industry. Photoenergy materials are expected to be a next generation class of materials to provide secure, safe, sustainable and affordable energy. Photoenergy devices are known to convert the sunlight into electricity. These types of devices are simple in design with a major advantage as they are stand-alone systems able to provide megawatts of power. They have been applied as a power source for solar home systems, remote buildings, water pumping, megawatt scale power plants, satellites, communications, and space vehicles. With such a list of enormous applications, the demand for photoenergy devices is growing every year. On the other hand, thin films coating, which can be defined as the barriers of surface science, the fields of materials science and applied physics are progressing as a unified discipline of scientific industry. A thin film can be termed as a very fine, or thin layer of material coated on a particular surface, that can be in the range of a nanometer in thickness to several micrometers in size. Thin films are applied in numerous areas ranging from protection purposes to electronic semiconductor devices. The 16 chapters in this volume, all written by subject matter experts, demonstrate the claim that both photoenergy and thin film materials have the potential to be the future of industry.

Download or read book Earth Abundant Materials for Solar Cells written by Sadao Adachi and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-10-28 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Systematically describes the physical and materials properties of copper-based quaternary chalcogenide semiconductor materials, enabling their potential for photovoltaic device applications. Intended for scientists and engineers, in particular, in the fields of multinary semiconductor physics and a variety of photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices.

Download or read book Electrical and Electronic Devices Circuits and Materials written by Suman Lata Tripathi and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-03-24 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The increasing demand for electronic devices for private and industrial purposes lead designers and researchers to explore new electronic devices and circuits that can perform several tasks efficiently with low IC area and low power consumption. In addition, the increasing demand for portable devices intensifies the call from industry to design sensor elements, an efficient storage cell, and large capacity memory elements. Several industry-related issues have also forced a redesign of basic electronic components for certain specific applications. The researchers, designers, and students working in the area of electronic devices, circuits, and materials sometimesneed standard examples with certain specifications. This breakthrough work presents this knowledge of standard electronic device and circuit design analysis, including advanced technologies and materials. This outstanding new volume presents the basic concepts and fundamentals behind devices, circuits, and systems. It is a valuable reference for the veteran engineer and a learning tool for the student, the practicing engineer, or an engineer from another field crossing over into electrical engineering. It is a must-have for any library.

Download or read book Introducing CTS Copper Tin Sulphide as a Solar Cell by Using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator SCAPS written by Iraj Sadegh Amiri and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-31 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the enhancement of efficiency in currently used solar cells. The authors have characterized different structures of the solar cell system to optimize system parameters, particularly the performance of the Copper-Tin-Sulphide solar cell using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). This research can help scientist to overcome the current limitations and build up new designs of the system with higher efficiency and greater functionality. The authors have investigated the corresponding samples from various viewpoints, including structural (crystallinity, composition and surface morphology), optical (UV–vis–near-IR transmittance/reflectance spectra) and electrical resistivity properties. Describes investigations on Cu2SnS3 solar cells and prospective low cost absorber layer of thin film solar cells; Discusses the potential device structure of Copper-Tin-Sulphide based on thin film technologies; Explains solar cell structure optimization to perform a higher conversion efficiency of Copper-Tin-Sulphide.

Download or read book Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells written by W.R. Fahrner and published by Trans Tech Publications Ltd. This book was released on 2006-08-15 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world of today must face up to two contradictory energy problems: on the one hand, there is the sharply growing consumer demand in countries such as China and India. On the other hand, natural resources are dwindling. Moreover, many of those countries which still possess substantial gas and oil supplies are politically unstable. As a result, renewable natural energy sources have received great attention. Among these, solar-cell technology is one of the most promising candidates. However, there still remains the problem of the manufacturing costs of such cells. Many attempts have been made to reduce the production costs of “conventional” solar cells (manufactured from monocrystalline silicon using diffusion methods) by instead using cheaper grades of silicon, and simpler pn-junction fabrication. That is the ‘hero’ of this book; the heterojunction solar cell.

Download or read book Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide Thin Films for Photovoltaics written by Jonathan J. Scragg and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jonathan Scragg documents his work on a very promising material suitable for use in solar cells. Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide (CZTS) is a low cost, earth-abundant material suitable for large scale deployment in photovoltaics. Jonathan pioneered and optimized a low cost route to this material involving electroplating of the three metals concerned, followed by rapid thermal processing (RTP) in sulfur vapour. His beautifully detailed RTP studies – combined with techniques such as XRD, EDX and Raman – reveal the complex relationships between composition, processing and photovoltaic performance. This exceptional thesis contributes to the development of clean, sustainable and alternative sources of energy

Download or read book Freeing Energy How Innovators Are Using Local scale Solar and Batteries to Disrupt the Global Energy Industry from the Outside In written by Bill Nussey and published by Mountain Ambler Publishing. This book was released on 2021-11-05 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transition to clean energy is moving far too slowly. Trapped by a century of fossil fuel investments and politicians that struggle to plan beyond the next election, the "Big Grid" that powers our modern world is outdated and in dire need of an upgrade. Freeing Energy offers a new and faster path towards a clean energy future-one that is more reliable, more equitable, and cheaper. Just like personal computers eclipsed mainframes, millions of solar rooftops and small battery systems are challenging every assumption about our century-old, centralized electric grid. These small-scale "local energy" systems are deeply disruptive because they are based on fast-moving technologies, not fuels. Driven by a new generation of innovators and genuinely competitive markets, smaller systems are faster to build, easier to finance, cleaner to operate, and they create far more jobs than large-scale projects. Bill Nussey takes readers to mud huts in Africa, an off-grid farm in California, and a rural school in the mountains of Puerto Rico to uncover the underlying patterns of technology and the business model innovations of the local energy revolution. He shares stories and insights from some of the industry's brightest visionaries and from leaders of the most cutting-edge startups, bringing it all together into an actionable framework to help accelerate this transition. Freeing Energy is a deeply researched, actionable guide for anyone that cares about the future of energy-from startups, policymakers, investors, and utility leaders to the families and communities that want cleaner, cheaper energy today.

Download or read book Solar Cell Device Physics written by Stephen J. Fonash and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Solar Cell Device Physics offers a balanced, in-depth qualitative and quantitative treatment of the physical principles and operating characteristics of solar cell devices. Topics covered include photovoltaic energy conversion and solar cell materials and structures, along with homojunction solar cells. Semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunction cells and surface-barrier solar cells are also discussed. This book consists of six chapters and begins by introducing the reader to the basic physical principles and materials properties that are the foundations of photovoltaic energy conversion, with emphasis on various photovoltaic devices capable of efficiently converting solar energy into usable electrical energy. The electronic and optical properties of crystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous materials with both organic and inorganic materials are considered, together with the manner in which these properties change from one material class to another and the implications of such changes for photovoltaics. Generation, recombination, and bulk transport are also discussed. The two mechanisms of photocarrier collection in solar cells, drift and diffusion, are then compared. The remaining chapters focus on specific solar cell device classes defined in terms of the interface structure employed: homojunctions, semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunctions, and surface-barrier devices. This monograph is appropriate for use as a textbook for graduate students in engineering and the sciences and for seniors in electrical engineering and applied physics, as well as a reference book for those actively involved in solar cell research and development.

Download or read book Semiconductor Materials and Modelling for Solar Cells written by Z. Pezeshki and published by Materials Research Forum LLC. This book was released on 2021-07-05 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book presents a comprehensive survey about advanced solar cell technologies. Focus is placed on semiconductor materials, solar cell efficiency, improvements in surface recombination velocity, charge density, high ultraviolet (UV) sensitivity, modeling of solar cells etc. The book references 281 original resources with their direct web links for in-depth reading. Keywords: Solar Cells, Thin Film Solar Cells, Solar Cell Efficiency, Semiconductor Materials, Surface Recombination Velocity, Charge Density, High UV Sensitivity, Heavily-doped Silicon Wafers, Amorphous Semiconductors, Nanocrystalline Semiconductors, Field Effect, Ferroelectric Semiconductors, Solar Cell Modelling.

Download or read book Solar Energy Capture Materials written by Elizabeth A Gibson and published by Royal Society of Chemistry. This book was released on 2019-08-28 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces a range of the different inorganic materials used in solar energy capture materials.

Download or read book Fabrication and Characterization of Low Cost Solar Cells based on Earth Abundant Materials for Sustainable Photovoltaics written by Mahmoud Abdelfatah and published by Cuvillier Verlag. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The low cost and low temperature electrochemical deposition technique was employed to grow Cu2O thin films and ZnO:Al thin films were deposited by d.c. magnetron sputtering in order to fabricate solar cells. The potentiostatic and galvanostatic electrodeposition modes were used to deposit the Cu2O thin films. Raman spectra of thin films have shown characteristic frequencies of crystalline Cu2O. The contact between Cu2O and Au is found to be an Ohmic contact. The devices grown by a potentiostatic mode have higher efficiency than those grown by a galvanostatic mode. The optimum thickness of Cu2O thin films as an absorber layer in solar cells. was found to be around 3 µm respect to a high efficiency. Flexible and light weight solar cell was fabricated on plastic substrate.

Download or read book Photoelectrochemical Solar Cells written by Nurdan Demirci Sankir and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-12-10 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a broad overall view of the photoelectrochemical systems for solar hydrogen generation, and new and novel materials for photoelectrochemical solar cell applications. Hydrogen has a huge potential as a safe and efficient energy carrier, which can be used directly in fuel cells to obtain electricity, or it can be used in the chemical industry, fossil fuel processing or ammonia production. However, hydrogen is not freely available in nature and it needs to be produced. Photoelectrochemical solar cells produce hydrogen from water using sunlight and specialized semiconductors, which use solar energy to directly dissociate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Hence, these systems reduce fossil fuels dependency and curb carbon dioxide emissions. Photoelectrochemical Solar Cells compiles the objectives related to the new semiconductor materials and manufacturing techniques for solar hydrogen generation. The chapters are written by distinguished authors who have extensive experience in their fields. Multidisciplinary contributors from physics, chemical engineering, materials science, and electrical and electronic information engineering, provide an in-depth coverage of the topic. Readers and users have the opportunity to learn not only about the fundamentals but also the various aspects of the materials science and manufacturing technologies for photoelectrochemical solar cells and the hydrogen generation systems via photoelectrochemical conversion. This groundbreaking book features: Description of solar hydrogen generation via photoelectrochemical process Designs of photoelectrochemical systems Measurements and efficiency definition protocols for photoelectrochemical solar cells Metal oxides for solar water splitting Semiconductor photocatalysts Bismuth vanadate-based materials for solar water splitting Copper-based chalcopyrite and kesterite materials for solar water splitting Eutectic composites for solar water splitting Photocatalytic formation of composite electrodes

Download or read book Chemical and Electronic Characterization of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide Thin Film Solar Cells and Correlation of These Characteristics to Solar Cell Operation written by Michael Justin Hetzer and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This dissertation embodies solid state physics research to understand the basic physical mechanisms underlying the movement of charge inside solar cells, in particular, the high efficiency copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cell. The fundamental physics of the operation of these complex polycrystalline alloys remains incompletely understood. CIGS based solar cells have obtained conversion efficiencies of nearly 20%. Solar cells based on this material have been examined in this work using high resolution, atomic scale techniques to better understand the fundamental operation of these solar cells as well as correlating these basic properties to the operation of the finished full solar cell devices. Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) measurements of the chemical composition taken with nanometer resolution in an ultra high vacuum secondary electron microscope show evidence for compositional changes at the grain boundaries of the CIGS layer. These findings support theoretical calculations that predict higher solar cell performance as a result. Additionally, measurements have been taken with cathodoluminescence spectroscopy (CLS) studying the band structure locally within the CIGS layers. Significant variation is present in the resulting spectra, even within single grains indicating improved uniformity could be a path to better solar cell operation. Attempts to correlate the chemical composition and the energy band structure using AES and CLS measurements have yielded some interesting initial results but more work remains to be done to obtain a deeper understanding of the physics involved in these solar cells. Correlations have been observed between the energy band structure and the performance parameters of the solar cell, such as efficiency. These results indicate the possibility of alloying between the different layers of the solar cell and also that this intermixing is detrimental to the performance of the solar cell. This work has revealed important fundamental characteristics of these materials regarding changes in the atomic composition and energy band structure and how these changes influence the performance of the CIGS layer.