Strategies to Enhance Thin Film Silicon Solar Cell Efficiency

Thin-film silicon solar cells are an innovative approach to utilizing solar energy. Thanks to their flexibility, lower material usage, and production cost, they have the potential to be used in a range of applications. The conversion efficiencies of thin-film silicon solar cells need to be improved to make them commercially viable. This involves...

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis of thin film Silicon-based HyET solar cells

Given the rising research of thin film solar cells in recent years, flexible technology has been proven to be more light weight and cost effective. As photovoltaics is increasingly becoming the front runner in sustainable energy production, concerns over the associated impacts of solar modules throughout their life cycle are also increasing....

Optimization of thin film flexible solar cell production process

The quest for a cleaner and greener fuel has necessitated the development of renewable energy sources. Sun has been a source of energy for human civilization since agrarian times. With the recent developments in science and technology, Solar energy has evolved as the front runner to power the future energy needs. The plentiful, eco-friendly, and...

Developing an a-/nc-Ge:H: film characterization and single-junction solar cell

Single junction solar cells have a theoretical efficiency limit of 33.1% due to spectral mismatch. To overcome this, multi-junction devices are generally fabricated with two or more junctions, so as to achieve better energy conversion efficiency by optimum spectral utilization. The c-Si bottom cell of a thin-film Si triple-/quadruple-junction...

Optimizing the p-contact of nip substrate solar cell: for multi-junction device

Single junction solar cells have a theoretical efficiency limit of 33.1% due to spectral mismatch. To overcome this limitation, two or more single junction cells with different bandgaps can be coupled together to achieve higher energy conversion efficiency by optimum spectral utilization. In this work, thin film silicon-based alloys are used to...

System level analysis of advanced a-Si:H flexible and lightweight PV modules

Thin film amorphous silicon based PV systems are a rather new and promising photovoltaic technology with plenty field for technological development and potential for unique applications such as integration within the built environment. Nevertheless, in order for the technology to be established, further technical development is required and...

Development of a-SiGe:H: from material characterization to multi-junction device

Multi-junction solar cells with Si alloys have true potential for high conversion efficiency, because of the spectrum splitting capability. For optimal spectral utilization, a multi-junction silicon based device needs a silicon alloy with a bandgap between that of nc-Si (1.1 eV) and a-Si (1.8 eV). a-SiGe:H has a tunable bandgap between 1.4-1.6...

Development of four-terminal devices utilising thin-film solar cells

Single junction solar cells suffer from two primary loss mechanisms due to spectral mismatch: thermalisation and non-absorption losses. A photon with energy greater than the bandgap of the solar cell can be absorbed to excite an electron-hole pair and the excess energy received is released as heat constituting thermalisation losses. On the other...

Development of bandgap graded a-SiOx:H solar cells for two-terminal and four-terminal applications

In this thesis, graded bandgap energy a-SiO_x:H solar cells are developed to attain a high JSC without compromising their high <i>V_OC </i>× FF product. First, a grading method which takes into account the interdependence of bandgap energy, deposition rate and the desired grading profile for a-SiO_x:H materials is...

Studying the nanostructure of a-Si:h solar cell absorber layers using positrion annihilation and neutron reflectometry

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon (a-Si:H) is a very promising solar cell material with a good potential to use in many applications, as it is cheap to produce, light-weight and flexible. However, upon prolonged exposure to light, the layers suffer from both metastable and irreversible changes (the Staebler-Wronski effect) that have a bad effect on...

TiO2 nanoparticles as back reflector in thin-film solar cells

In the field of thin film solar cells light management is an important mechanism to improve efficiency. Manipulating the reflectivity and distribution of scattering angles significantly contribute to absorbing light with relative long wavelengths. In this thesis the scattering effect of titaniumdioxide nanoparticles (0.2-0.3 micron) for the use...