Download or read book Issues in the Development of All sputtered ZnO CdS CdTe Flexible Solar Cells written by Anthony Clark Vasko and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells are traditionally made on glass in a superstrate configuration, taking advantage of the transparency and mechanical rigidity of glass, as well as the ability to form the back contact last. However, there are advantages to fabricating solar cells on flexible substrates such as plastic sheets. Advantages include high specific powers (power generated per mass of the device) for low weight applications, the possibility for continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing suitable for industry, and the opportunity to place solar devices on objects and structures that are not necessarily flat. We have fabricated various flexible CdTe devices through sputter deposition, using aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) as a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) top contact. Early devices, made by naively applying fabrication techniques used with glass cells, had poor performance. This inspired several investigations. Traditional simple heuristic analysis of solar cell current-voltage curves assumes the cell is reasonably performing and that series and shunt resistance losses are small. This was not true for our early cells, inspiring us to derive a simple model for very poor cells. Early cells showed significant losses due to both series and shunt resistance. Series resistance losses in flexible cells inspired us to investigate more deeply series resistance losses in general, resulting in a fairly simple model that relates fill factor losses, in dot cells made in a typical geometry, to TCO sheet resistance. This model was confirmed by experiment. Series resistance losses also led to futher investigation of AZO properties. We have found that AZO sheet resistance increases during cell fabrication, but a model that is supported by experiment indicates that the resistivity change is limited to a finite thickness of material. This allows fabrication of AZO which remains of good sheet resistance throughout the fabrication process. Shunt resistance losses inspired a study of highly resistive and transparent (HRT) zinc oxide made by reactive sputtering with oxygen, which can be used as a buffer for shunts. Data on resisitivity as a function of oxygen in the sputter gas is given when using doped and undoped zinc oxygen sputter targets. Calculations on theoretical effects of such buffer layers are also presented. A high temperature cadmium chloride (CdCl2) treatment is needed to create high efficiency CdTe cells. This can be a difficult step for flexible cells, as it can lead to CdTe film delamination. We have optimized a treatment for flexible cells and found that conditions, different from those which are optimal for cells on glass, allows high performance with no delamination. Understanding of these issues allowed progress in the performance of our cells fabricated on flexible substrates. Ultimately, we have fabricated a flexible CdTe cell with efficiency of 10.5%. This efficiency is, to our knowledge, the best of any flexible CdTe cell which uses zinc oxide as a transparent conducting oxide. The performance of these cells also compares favorably to the best overall flexible CdTe cells.
Download or read book Solar Cells and Modules written by Arvind Shah and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-07-16 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book gives a comprehensive introduction to the field of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and modules. In thirteen chapters, it addresses a wide range of topics including the spectrum of light received by PV devices, the basic functioning of a solar cell, and the physical factors limiting the efficiency of solar cells. It places particular emphasis on crystalline silicon solar cells and modules, which constitute today more than 90 % of all modules sold worldwide. Describing in great detail both the manufacturing process and resulting module performance, the book also touches on the newest developments in this sector, such as Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCON) and heterojunction modules, while dedicating a major chapter to general questions of module design and fabrication. Overall, it presents the essential theoretical and practical concepts of PV solar cells and modules in an easy-to-understand manner and discusses current challenges facing the global research and development community.
Download or read book Growth Etching and Stability of Sputtered ZnO AI for Thin film Silicon Solar Cells written by Jorj Ian Owen and published by Forschungszentrum Jülich. This book was released on 2011 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Influence of a Front Buffer Layer on the Performance of Flexible CdS CdTe Solar Cells written by Hasitha Padmika Mahabaduge and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells have been developing as a promising candidate for large-scale application of photovoltaic energy conversion and have become the most commercially successful polycrystalline thin-film solar module material. In scaling up from small cells to large-area modules, inevitably non-uniformities across the large area will limit the performance of the large cell or module. The effects of these non-uniformities can be reduced by introducing a thin, high-resistivity transparent buffer layer between the conductive electrodes and the semiconductor diode. ZnO is explored in this dissertation as a high-resistivity transparent buffer layer for sputtered CdTe solar cells and efficiencies over 15% have been achieved on commercially available Pilkington TEC15M glass substrates. The highest open-circuit voltage of 0.858V achieved using the optimized ZnO buffer layer is among the best reported in the literature. The properties of ZnO:Al as a buffer are also investigated. We have shown that ZnO:Al can serve both as a transparent conducting oxide layer as well as a high-resistivity transparent layer for CdTe solar cells. ZnO:Al reactively sputtered with oxygen can give the necessary resistivities that allow it to be used as a high-resistivity transparent layer. Glass is the most common choice as the substrate for solar cells fabricated in the superstrate configuration due to its transparency and mechanical rigidity. However flexible substrates offer the advantages of light weight, high flexibility, ease of integrability and higher throughput through roll-to-roll processing over glass. This dissertation presents significant improvements made to flexible CdTe solar cells reporting an efficiency of 14% on clear Kapton® flexible polyimide substrates. Our efficiency of 14% is, to our knowledge, the best for any flexible CdTe cell reported in literature.
Download or read book Stability Issues in Sputtered CdS CdTe Solar Cells written by Naba Raj Paudel and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Inorganic Flexible Optoelectronics written by Zhenqiang Ma and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-04-29 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprehensively covering inorganic flexible optoelectronics and their applications This highly application-oriented book provides an overview of the vibrant research field of inorganic flexible optoelectronics ? from materials to applications ? covering bulk materials as well as nanowires, thin films, nanomembranes for application in light emitting diodes, photodetectors, phototransistors, and solar cells. Edited and written by world-leading experts in the field, Inorganic Flexible Optoelectronics: Materials and Applications begins by covering flexible inorganic light emitting diodes enabled by new materials and designs, and provides examples of their use in neuroscience research. It then looks at flexible light-emitting diodes based on inorganic semiconductor nanostructures ? from thin films to nanowires. Next, the book examines flexible photodetectors with nanomembranes and nanowires; 2-D material based photodetectors on flexible substrates; and IV group materials based solar cells and their flexible photovoltaic technologies. Following that, it presents readers with a section on thin-film III-V single junction and multijunction solar cells and demonstrates their integration onto heterogeneous substrates. Finally, the book finishes with in-depth coverage of novel materials based flexible solar cells. -A must-have book that provides an unprecedented overview of the state of the art in flexible optoelectronics -Supplies in-depth information for new and already active researchers in the field of optoelectronics -Lays down the undiluted knowledge on inorganic flexible optoelectronics ? from materials to devices -Focuses on materials and devices for high-performance applications such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and photodetectors Inorganic Flexible Optoelectronics: Materials and Applications appeals to materials scientists, electronics engineers, electrical engineers, inorganic chemists, and solid state physicists.
Download or read book Development and Characterization of Sputtered Films for Applications in CdS CdTe Solar Cells written by Xu Wang and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Coatings and Thin Film Technologies written by Jaime Andres Perez Taborda and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of coatings and thin-film technologies is rapidly advancing to keep up with new uses for semiconductor, optical, tribological, thermoelectric, solar, security, and smart sensing applications, among others. In this sense, thin-film coatings and structures are increasingly sophisticated with more specific properties, new geometries, large areas, the use of heterogeneous materials and flexible and rigid coating substrates to produce thin-film structures with improved performance and properties in response to new challenges that the industry presents. This book aims to provide the reader with a complete overview of the current state of applications and developments in thin-film technology, discussing applications, health and safety in thin films, and presenting reviews and experimental results of recognized experts in the area of coatings and thin-film technologies.
Download or read book CdTe and Related Compounds Physics Defects Hetero and Nano structures Crystal Growth Surfaces and Applications written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2009-11-11 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost thirty years after the remarkable monograph of K. Zanio and the numerous conferences and articles dedicated since that time to CdTe and CdZnTe, after all the significant progresses in that field and the increasing interest in these materials for several extremely attractive industrial applications, such as nuclear detectors and solar cells, the edition of a new enriched and updated monograph dedicated to these two very topical II-VI semiconductor compounds, covering all their most prominent, modern and fundamental aspects, seemed very relevant and useful. - Detailed coverage of the main topics associated with the very topical II-VI semiconductor compound CdTe and its alloy CZT - Review of the CdTe recent developments - Fundamental background of many topics clearly introduced and exposed
Download or read book Recent Advances in Thin Film Photovoltaics written by Udai P. Singh and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-09-02 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides recent development in thin-film solar cells (TFSC). TFSC have proven the promising approach for terrestrial and space photovoltaics. TFSC have the potential to change the device design and produce high efficiency devices on rigid/flexible substrates with significantly low manufacturing cost. TFSC have several advantages in manufacturing compared to traditional crystalline Si-solar cells like less requirement of materials, can be prepared with earth’s abundant materials, less processing steps, easy to dispose, etc. Several universities/research institutes/industry in India and abroad are involved in the research area of thin-film solar cells. The book helps the readers to find the details about different thin-film technologies and its advancement at one place. Each chapter covers properties of materials, its suitability for PV applications, simple manufacturing processes and recent and past literature survey. The issues related to the development of high efficiency TFSC devices over large area and its commercial and future prospects are discussed.
Download or read book Fundamentals Of Solar Cells written by Alan Fahrenbruch and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fundamentals of Solar Cells: Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion provides an introduction to the fundamental physical principles of solar cells. It aims to promote the expansion of solar photovoltaics from relatively small and specialized use to a large-scale contribution to energy supply. The book begins with a review of basic concepts such as the source of energy, the role of photovoltaic conversion, the development of photovoltaic cells, and sequence of phenomena involved in solar power generation. This is followed by separate chapters on each of the processes that take place in solar cell. These include solar input; properties of semiconductors; recombination and the flow of photogenerated carriers; charge separation and the characteristics of junction barriers; and calculation of solar efficiency. Subsequent chapters deal with the operation of specific solar cell devices such as a single-crystal homojunction (Si); a single-crystal-heterojunction/buried-homojunction (AlGaAs/GaAs); and a polycrystalline, thin-film cell (CuxS/CdS). This book is intended for upper-level graduate students who have a reasonably good understanding of solid state physics and for scientists and engineers involved in research and development of solar cells.
Download or read book Growth and Characterization of ZnO for the Front Contact of Cu In Ga Se2 Solar Cells Using Reactive Sputtering Techniques written by Rita Bhatt and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: ZnO window layers for CIGS solar cells are grown with a DC sputtering technique instead of a conventional RF sputtering technique. Transparent window layers and buffer layers are sputtered from the Zn target in the presence of Oxygen. The window layer is doped with Aluminum in order to achieve high electrical conductivity and thermal stability. The effect of different sputtering parameters on the electrical and optical properties of the films is elaborately studied. Sets of annealing experiments are also performed. Combinations of different deposition parameters are examined to design the optimum fabrication conditions. We are able to deposit 85% transparent, Al doped ZnO films having 002-axis orientation and 4e-4 ohm-cm resistivity, which is successfully, used on CIGS solar cells. Resistivity of undoped ZnO buffer layers is varied form 10-2 ohm-cm to unmeasurable by varying the sputtering parameters. The performance of a reactively sputtered window layer and a buffer layer have matched the performance of the RF sputtered ZnO on CIGS solar cells. There has been considerable effort to eliminate Chemical Bath Deposition of the CdS buffer layer from CIS solar cell fabrication. The performance of an undoped DC sputtered ZnO layer is examined on Cd free CIGS solar cells. The ZnO buffer layer is directly sputtered on an underlying CIGS material. The performance of Cd free solar cells is highly susceptible to the presence of Oxygen in the sputtering ambient of the buffer layer deposition [6]. As Oxygen is a growth component in reactive sputtering, the growth mechanisms of the DC-sputtered buffer layer are studied to improve the understanding. The performance of all reactively sputtered ZnO devices matched the values reported in the literature and the results for DC sputtered ZnO on Cd-free solar cells were encouraging.
Download or read book Development of CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells on Flexible Foil Substrates written by Deidra Ranel Hodges and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: 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.
Download or read book Processing of CdS CdTe Solar Cell and the Growth Model of CdTe Thin Film written by Guogen Liu and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cadmium telluride is the only thin film photovoltaic (PV) technology to surpass crystalline silicon PV in the cost. The most common CdTe solar cells consist of a simple p-n heterojunction structure containing a p-doped CdTe layer and n-doped cadmium sulfide (CdS) layer, which acts as a window layer. Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) thin films are often deposited on glass substrates coated with TCO layers by the close-spaced sublimation (CSS) or sputter techniques in industrial because of in-line production integration. It is seldom reported that CdS is deposited by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) batch process. The bottleneck of CBD for commercial application is its low production rate and waste water treatment. This dissertation reports how to produce different thickness large area (100cm2) CdS thin film by CBD. The influence of the solution temperature and concentration on the thickness of CdS is investigated. This dissertation also reports a growth model for CdTe deposition including diffusion limited and sublimation limited. The model was consistent with experimental observations and showed very good agreement over a range of operating conditions.
Download or read book Flexible CdTe Solar Cells and Modules Cooperative Research and Development Final Report CRADA Number CRD 14 548 written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lucintech and NREL will collaborate to develop flexible CdTe solar cells on flexible glass using sputtering and other deposition technologies. This initial work will be conducted under the DOE funded Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency (FPACE) 1 project, and the interaction with Lucintech will focus on scaling up and transferring the high efficiency cell processes to module production on a pilot line.
Download or read book Thin Film Solar Cells written by Jef Poortmans and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2006-10-16 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thin-film solar cells are either emerging or about to emerge from the research laboratory to become commercially available devices finding practical various applications. Currently no textbook outlining the basic theoretical background, methods of fabrication and applications currently exist. Thus, this book aims to present for the first time an in-depth overview of this topic covering a broad range of thin-film solar cell technologies including both organic and inorganic materials, presented in a systematic fashion, by the scientific leaders in the respective domains. It covers a broad range of related topics, from physical principles to design, fabrication, characterization, and applications of novel photovoltaic devices.
Download or read book Factories of the Future written by Tullio Tolio and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-02-14 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.This book presents results relevant in the manufacturing research field, that are mainly aimed at closing the gap between the academic investigation and the industrial application, in collaboration with manufacturing companies. Several hardware and software prototypes represent the key outcome of the scientific contributions that can be grouped into five main areas, representing different perspectives of the factory domain:1) Evolutionary and reconfigurable factories to cope with dynamic production contexts characterized by evolving demand and technologies, products and processes.2) Factories for sustainable production, asking for energy efficiency, low environmental impact products and processes, new de-production logics, sustainable logistics.3) Factories for the People who need new kinds of interactions between production processes, machines, and human beings to offer a more comfortable and stimulating working environment.4) Factories for customized products that will be more and more tailored to the final user’s needs and sold at cost-effective prices.5) High performance factories to yield the due production while minimizing the inefficiencies caused by failures, management problems, maintenance.This books is primarily targeted to academic researchers and industrial practitioners in the manufacturing domain.
