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Author: Ignacio Becerril Romero Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 197
Book Description
"The development of sustainable energy sources with a high energy return on energy investment (EROI) that can substitute fossil fuels is a must in order to avoid the collapse of our current civilization. In this context, this work explores the feasibility of fabricating efficient Cu2ZnSn(Sx,Se1-x)4 (kesterite) solar cells on three strategic substrates: polyimide, ceramic and SnO2:F-coated soda-lime glass (SLG/FTO). These substrates present several advantages with respect to the standard SLG/Mo. Polyimide is compatible with roll-to-toll production processes and easily integrable in many applications thanks to its light weight and flexibility, ceramics have a direct application in building-integrated photovoltaics as solar tiles and the transparency of SLG/FTO enables advanced photovoltaic concepts like bifacial and tandem solar cells as well as the fabrication of semi-transparent devices. Their combination with a sustainable thin film photovoltaic technology based on Earth-abundant materials like kesterites has the potential of decreasing the energy fabrication cost and, thus, of increasing the EROI of photovoltaics through: 1) high throughput production, 2) integration and 3) advanced applications and functionality. However, these substrates also present several drawbacks. Alkalis, especially Na, are fundamental to achieve high efficiency devices but polyimide and ceramics are alkali-free materials. Likewise, FTO acts as a barrier for alkalis. In addition, polyimide presents a low thermal robustness that limits process temperatures below 500oC, ceramics are very rough and possess detrimental impurities and the use of FTO as back contact leads to a non-optimum p-kesterite/n-FTO interface. This work focuses on the implementation of specific strategies to adapt the kesterite solar cell fabrication process to the characteristics of the different substrates. A combination of alkaline doping and low-temperature annealings is studied for the fabrication of Cu2ZnSnSe4 solar cells on polyimide. While doping with NaF and KF is found to lead to critical improvements, working at low temperature is linked to the formation of SnSe2. This phase decreases the open-circuit voltage of the devices and is the main factor controlling their performance. Further experimentation leads to a 4.9% efficiency record device by combining NaF and Ge doping and a 480oC annealing. In the case of ceramic, vitreous enamels with controlled amounts of Na2O in their composition are used as surface smoothers, Na sources and impurity barriers, simultaneously. However, large amounts of Na2O in the enamel composition result in high densities of surface defects: undulations, pinholes and cracks. While undulations and pinholes are rather benign, cracks strongly deteriorate the back contact. In addition, the annealing time needs to be controlled to avoid the formation of SnSe2. Besides these issues, enamelled ceramic substrates are observed to behave similarly to SLG yielding a record Cu2ZnSnSe4 device with a 7.5% efficiency. Regarding SLG/FTO, the addition of transition metal oxides (TMOs) and/or Mo:Na nanolayers is studied as an approach to improve the back interface of the devices. Mo:Na is found to alleviate shunting and recombination issues and to protect FTO from degradation during annealing which leads to highly improved devices, especially for Cu2ZnSnS4. On the other hand, TMOs introduce a severe current blockage. However, the combination of the TiO2 and V2O5 with Mo:Na is observed to boost the beneficial effects of the latter in Cu2ZnSnSe4 and Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 devices. Although these multi-layered back interfaces exhibit a complex behaviour, this approach results in record efficiencies of 6.2%, 6.1% and 7.9% for Cu2ZnSnSe4, Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 devices, respectively. These results represent the highest efficiencies ever reported for kesterite solar cells fabricated on polyimide, ceramic and transparent substrates and give proof of their large potential for sustainable kesterite-based photovoltaics." -- TDX.
Author: Ignacio Becerril Romero Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 197
Book Description
"The development of sustainable energy sources with a high energy return on energy investment (EROI) that can substitute fossil fuels is a must in order to avoid the collapse of our current civilization. In this context, this work explores the feasibility of fabricating efficient Cu2ZnSn(Sx,Se1-x)4 (kesterite) solar cells on three strategic substrates: polyimide, ceramic and SnO2:F-coated soda-lime glass (SLG/FTO). These substrates present several advantages with respect to the standard SLG/Mo. Polyimide is compatible with roll-to-toll production processes and easily integrable in many applications thanks to its light weight and flexibility, ceramics have a direct application in building-integrated photovoltaics as solar tiles and the transparency of SLG/FTO enables advanced photovoltaic concepts like bifacial and tandem solar cells as well as the fabrication of semi-transparent devices. Their combination with a sustainable thin film photovoltaic technology based on Earth-abundant materials like kesterites has the potential of decreasing the energy fabrication cost and, thus, of increasing the EROI of photovoltaics through: 1) high throughput production, 2) integration and 3) advanced applications and functionality. However, these substrates also present several drawbacks. Alkalis, especially Na, are fundamental to achieve high efficiency devices but polyimide and ceramics are alkali-free materials. Likewise, FTO acts as a barrier for alkalis. In addition, polyimide presents a low thermal robustness that limits process temperatures below 500oC, ceramics are very rough and possess detrimental impurities and the use of FTO as back contact leads to a non-optimum p-kesterite/n-FTO interface. This work focuses on the implementation of specific strategies to adapt the kesterite solar cell fabrication process to the characteristics of the different substrates. A combination of alkaline doping and low-temperature annealings is studied for the fabrication of Cu2ZnSnSe4 solar cells on polyimide. While doping with NaF and KF is found to lead to critical improvements, working at low temperature is linked to the formation of SnSe2. This phase decreases the open-circuit voltage of the devices and is the main factor controlling their performance. Further experimentation leads to a 4.9% efficiency record device by combining NaF and Ge doping and a 480oC annealing. In the case of ceramic, vitreous enamels with controlled amounts of Na2O in their composition are used as surface smoothers, Na sources and impurity barriers, simultaneously. However, large amounts of Na2O in the enamel composition result in high densities of surface defects: undulations, pinholes and cracks. While undulations and pinholes are rather benign, cracks strongly deteriorate the back contact. In addition, the annealing time needs to be controlled to avoid the formation of SnSe2. Besides these issues, enamelled ceramic substrates are observed to behave similarly to SLG yielding a record Cu2ZnSnSe4 device with a 7.5% efficiency. Regarding SLG/FTO, the addition of transition metal oxides (TMOs) and/or Mo:Na nanolayers is studied as an approach to improve the back interface of the devices. Mo:Na is found to alleviate shunting and recombination issues and to protect FTO from degradation during annealing which leads to highly improved devices, especially for Cu2ZnSnS4. On the other hand, TMOs introduce a severe current blockage. However, the combination of the TiO2 and V2O5 with Mo:Na is observed to boost the beneficial effects of the latter in Cu2ZnSnSe4 and Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 devices. Although these multi-layered back interfaces exhibit a complex behaviour, this approach results in record efficiencies of 6.2%, 6.1% and 7.9% for Cu2ZnSnSe4, Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 devices, respectively. These results represent the highest efficiencies ever reported for kesterite solar cells fabricated on polyimide, ceramic and transparent substrates and give proof of their large potential for sustainable kesterite-based photovoltaics." -- TDX.
Author: Yue Yu Publisher: ISBN: Category : Photovoltaic cells Languages : en Pages : 146
Book Description
The world energy consumption has increased rigorously in recent years due to the rapid economic development and the massive global population expansion. Today the world energy supply relies heavily on fossil fuels, known as non-renewable energy resources, which have limited reserves on Earth and do not form or replenish in a short period of time. Burning fossil fuels not only brings environmental pollutions but also results in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are to blame for global warming. Therefore, to build a more sustainable and greener future, we have to develop alternative renewable energy resources. Photovoltaic (PV) cell, also commonly known as solar cell, is a very promising renewable energy technology. Here in this dissertation, we have studied two emerging PV materials with earth abundant elements, i.e. copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) and organic-inorganic hybrid halide perovskite. Having earth abundant elements means that the raw materials have rich reserves on Earth and the costs are relatively low. It also means that the materials have the potential capability to be produced in large scales in industry. We first explored two different deposition methods for preparing CZTS thin films. In the first method, the CZTS was fabricated by a solution based method with diethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent and the effect of spin speed on the properties of CZTS thin films was studied. The results indicated that a higher spin speed was more favorable for attaining a more densely packed and pinhole-free film while no crystallographic differences were observed. In the second method, CZTS was fabricated using sputtered metal precursors followed by a closed-space sulfurization (CSS) technique, which had high manufacturing compatibility and could be applied in industry. After exploring different sulfurization conditions, including temperatures and time, the champion cell was obtained at 590oC for 30min, with a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.2%. We then explored three different organic-inorganic hybrid halide perovskite materials for solar cell applications. The first perovskite material is methylammonium tin triiodide (MASnI3, bandgap ~1.3 eV). It was fabricated by a hybrid thermal evaporation. The as-deposited MASnI3 thin films exhibit smooth surfaces, uniform coverage across the entire substrate, and strong crystallographic preferred orientation along the 100 direction. Our results demonstrate the potential capability of the hybrid evaporation method for preparing high-quality MASnI3 perovskite thin films which can be used to fabricate efficient lead (Pb)-free perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). The second perovskite material is mixed-cation (formamidinium and cesium) lead iodide (FA0.8Cs0.2PbI3). We find that one of the main factors limiting the PCEs of FA0.8Cs0.2PbI3 PVSCs could be the small grain sizes, which leads to relatively short mean carrier lifetimes. We further find that adding a small amount of lead thiocyanate additive can enlarge the grain size of FA0.8Cs0.2PbI3 perovskite thin films and significantly increase the mean carrier lifetime. As a result, the average PCE of FA0.8Cs0.2PbI3 PVSCs increases from 16.18 ± 0.50 (13.45 ± 0.78)% to 18.16 ± 0.54 (16.86 ± 0.63)% when measured under reverse (forward) voltage scans. The best-performing FA0.8Cs0.2PbI3 PVSC registers a PCE of 19.57 (18.12) % when measured under a reverse (forward) voltage scan. The third perovskite material is FA0.8Cs0.2Pb(I0.7Br0.3)3 (bandgap ~1.75 eV). We find that the cooperation of lead thiocyanate additive and a solvent annealing process can effectively increase the grain size of the perovskite thin films while avoiding the undesired excess lead iodide formation. As a result, the average grain size of the FA0.8Cs0.2Pb(I0.7Br0.3)3 perovskite thin films increases from 66 ± 24 nm to 1036 ± 111 nm and the mean carrier lifetime shows a more than 3-fold increase, from 330 ns to over 1000 ns. As a result, the average open-circuit voltage (Voc) of FA0.8Cs0.2Pb(I0.7Br0.3)3 PVSCs increases by 80 (70) mV and the average PCE increases from 13.44 ± 0.48 (11.75 ± 0.34)% to 17.68 ± 0.36 (15.58 ± 0.55)% when measured under reverse (forward) voltage scans. The best-performing wide-bandgap (~1.75 eV) PVSC registers a stabilized PCE of 17.18%, demonstrating its suitability for top cell applications in all-perovskite tandem solar cells.
Author: Subba Ramaiah Kodigala Publisher: Newnes ISBN: 0123971829 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 197
Book Description
The fundamental concept of the book is to explain how to make thin film solar cells from the abundant solar energy materials by low cost. The proper and optimized growth conditions are very essential while sandwiching thin films to make solar cell otherwise secondary phases play a role to undermine the working function of solar cells. The book illustrates growth and characterization of Cu2ZnSn(S1-xSex)4 thin film absorbers and their solar cells. The fabrication process of absorber layers by either vacuum or non-vacuum process is readily elaborated in the book, which helps for further development of cells. The characterization analyses such as XPS, XRD, SEM, AFM etc., lead to tailor the physical properties of the absorber layers to fit well for the solar cells. The role of secondary phases such as ZnS, Cu2-xS,SnS etc., which are determined by XPS, XRD or Raman, in the absorber layers is promptly discussed. The optical spectroscopy analysis, which finds band gap, optical constants of the films, is mentioned in the book. The electrical properties of the absorbers deal the influence of substrates, growth temperature, impurities, secondary phases etc. The low temperature I-V and C-V measurements of Cu2ZnSn(S1-xSex)4 thin film solar cells are clearly described. The solar cell parameters such as efficiency, fill factor, series resistance, parallel resistance provide handful information to understand the mechanism of physics of thin film solar cells in the book. The band structure, which supports to adjust interface states at the p-n junction of the solar cells is given. On the other hand the role of window layers with the solar cells is discussed. The simulation of theoretical efficiency of Cu2ZnSn(S1-xSex)4 thin film solar cells explains how much efficiency can be experimentally extracted from the cells. - One of the first books exploring how to conduct research on thin film solar cells, including reducing costs - Detailed instructions on conducting research
Author: Senthilarasu Sundaram Publisher: Elsevier ISBN: 0323901891 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 819
Book Description
Photovoltaics Beyond Silicon: Innovative Materials, Sustainable Processing Technologies, and Novel Device Structures presents the latest innovations in materials, processing and devices to produce electricity via advanced, sustainable photovoltaics technologies. The book provides an overview of the novel materials and device architectures that have been developed to optimize energy conversion efficiencies and minimize environmental impacts. Advances in technologies for harnessing solar energy are extensively discussed, with topics including materials processing, device fabrication, sustainability of materials and manufacturing, and the current state-of-the-art. Contributions from leading international experts discuss the applications, challenges and future prospects of research in this increasingly vital field, providing a valuable resource for students and researchers working in this area. - Presents a comprehensive overview and detailed discussion of solar energy technology options for sustainable energy conversion - Provides an understanding of the environmental challenges to be overcome and discusses the importance of efficient materials utilization for clean energy - Looks at how to design materials processing and optimize device fabrication, including metrics such as power-to-weight ratio, effectiveness at EOL compared to BOL, life-cycle analysis
Author: Sadao Adachi Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 1119052785 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 848
Book Description
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.
Author: Jonathan J. Scragg Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 3642229190 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
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
Author: Sheila Devasahayam Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 1498733069 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 735
Book Description
Sustainable practices within the mining and energy sectors are assuming greater significance due to uncertainty and change within the global economy and safety, security, and health concerns. This book examines sustainability issues facing the mining and energy sectors by addressing six major themes: Mining and Mineral Processing; Metallurgy and Recycling; Environment; Energy; Socioeconomic and Regulatory; and Sustainable Materials and Fleets. Emphasizing an integrated transdisciplinary approach, it deliberates on optimizing mining productivity and energy efficiency and discusses integrated waste management practices. It discusses risk management, cost cutting, and integration of sustainable practices for long-term business value. It gives a comprehensive outlook for sustainable mineral futures from academic and industry perspectives covering mine to mill optimization, waste, risk and water management, improved efficiencies in mining tools and equipment, and performance indicators for sustainable developments. It covers how innovation and research underpin management of natural resources including sustainable carbon management. •Focuses on mining and mineral processing, metallurgy and recycling, the environment, energy, socioeconomic and regulatory issues, and sustainable materials and fleets. •Describes metallurgy and recycling and uses economic, environmental and social parameter analyses to identify areas for improvement in iron, steel, aluminium, lead, zinc, copper, and gold production. •Discusses current research on mining, performance indicators for sustainable development, sustainability in mining equipment, risk and safety management, and renewable energy resources •Covers alternative and conventional energy sources for the mineral sector as well water treatment and remediation and energy sustainability in mining. •Provides an overview of sustainable carbon management. •Offers an interdisciplinary approach with international focus.
Author: Mariana Amorim Fraga Publisher: Elsevier ISBN: 0128215933 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 669
Book Description
Sustainable Material Solutions for Solar Energy Technologies: Processing Techniques and Applications provides an overview of challenges that must be addressed to efficiently utilize solar energy. The book explores novel materials and device architectures that have been developed to optimize energy conversion efficiencies and minimize environmental impacts. Advances in technologies for harnessing solar energy are extensively discussed, with topics including materials processing, device fabrication, sustainability of materials and manufacturing, and current state-of-the-art. Leading international experts discuss the applications, challenges, and future prospects of research in this increasingly vital field, providing a valuable resource for students and researchers working in this field. - Explores the fundamentals of sustainable materials for solar energy applications, with in-depth discussions of the most promising material solutions for solar energy technologies: photocatalysis, photovoltaic, hydrogen production, harvesting and storage - Discusses the environmental challenges to be overcome and importance of efficient materials utilization for clean energy - Looks at design materials processing and optimization of device fabrication via metrics such as power-to-weight ratio, effectiveness at EOL compared to BOL, and life-cycle analysis
Author: Ignacio Becerril Romero
Author: Ignacio Becerril Romero
Author: Yue Yu
Author: Subba Ramaiah Kodigala
Author: Mahmoud Abdelfatah
Author: Senthilarasu Sundaram
Author: Sadao Adachi
Author: 
Author: Jonathan J. Scragg
Author: Sheila Devasahayam
Author: Mariana Amorim Fraga