Threshold voltage reliability and trap modelling in silicon carbide MOS capacitor under high temperature

To extend Moore’s law, silicon carbide devices attend the researcher’s attention due to their irreplaceable advantages such as high critical breakdown electrical field, wide bandgap and excellent thermal conductivity without sacrificing too much charge carrier mobility. However, the defects on the SiC-oxide interface degrades the performance of...

Simplified processing of interdigitated-back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells are one of the most promising PV technologies nowadays due to high photoconversion efficiencies and low manufacturing costs. However, standard front/back-contacted (FBC) solar cells feature a front metal grid that brings shading to the front side of the devices, which limits the conversion efficiency of...

Wave Optics Simulation of Subwavelength Structures within Solar Cells: Integration of RCWA with GenPro4

To further improve the light management and optical performance of solar cells, research into nano-textured interfaces has led to a need for a fast and accurate wave optics model. Currently, within the PVMD group at the TU Delft an optical solar cell simulation tool, GenPro4, is being developed to allow for the quick optimization and analysis of...

Fabrication of high efficiency poly-SiOx passivated c-Si FBC solar cells

Carrier selective passivating contacts (CSPC) have proven to effectively curtail the recombination losses emerging at directly metallised contacts of crystalline Silicon (c-Si) solar cells. CSPCs enabled using an ultra-thin interfacial tunnel oxide layer (SiOx) capped by a doped polycrystalline Silicon (poly-Si) layer also referred to as Tunnel...

Achieving 100% roof-top based PV penetration in a low voltage distribution network

Given the merits of photovoltaic technology (PV), rooftop PV systems are becoming more prevalent in residential and commercial areas. As a result of the growing number of photovoltaic systems connected to low voltage (LV) distribution grids, a significant portion of power flow from photovoltaic arrays to the LV grid, As the PV penetration...

Modelling methodology for distributed wind turbines based on IEC and WECC: single turbine representation vs a combined model

The use of renewable energies has been growing in a considerable way in the world. Until 2017, 18% of European Union’s total installed power generation capacity was wind power capacity. The level of grid penetration of wind turbines has also increased significantly in the Netherlands. This high level of penetration of wind energy affects the...

Monitoring of bifacial floating PV systems and validation of a toolbox for its simulation

The development of solar photovoltaic systems has seen a rapid increase in the recent years propelled by mass manufacturing and constantly declining costs of PV modules. In some regions, however, the levelized cost of energy is still rather high, posing some challenges for this technology to take a leading roll in the energy mix. In order to...

Modular Multilevel Converter: Introduction of a low level communication bus for distributed control

The transportation industry is causing 14% of the worldwide greenhouse gas emission. Therefore, the United Nation concluded with the Paris climate agreement to reduce and limit their emissions to keep the global average temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius. Based on the agreement the European union introduced new regulations to limit the...

From solar to hydrogen energy: Modelling, design, and construction of a system for hydrogen production using photovoltaic panels.

<br/>Efficiency improvements of solar cells, growth in photovoltaic cells manufacturing, and declining prices of solar modules are just a few of the factors that have allowed solar power to break records (320 GW) in global cumulative installed capacity in 2016. In the energy systems of the future, solar energy will be the predominant energy...

Improving a Silicon Based Triple Junction Cell for Solar Water Splitting

In the transition towards a renewable based energy supply, one of the main challenges is the intermittent nature of most renewable energy sources. In order to ensure a stable energy supply, different storage technologies attract a lot of research attention. For long term storage, using hydrogen as artificial fuel is a promising option. However,...