Performance Enhancement Of Solar Cells Research Articles

An Updated Review for Performance Enhancement of Solar Cells by Spectral Modification

Photovoltaic technology has become one of the major renewable ways to generate electric power. However, the mismatch between the incident solar spectrum and photo-electric response efficiency of solar cells severely constrains their performance. Hence, spectral modification technologies, e.g., up-conversion (UC), down-conversion (DC), and luminescent down-shifting (LDS) technologies have been applied widely in the photovoltaic field to reform the incident spectrum to match the best response band possible. In this paper, we review the latest developments of the three technologies above in terms of material selection, optical characteristics, and photovoltaic performance. It is found that the three most popular materials for conversion are NaYF4: Er3+, Yb3+, and Yb3+. The excitation bands for the three technologies are 800–1550 nm, 250–488 nm, and 250–488 nm, respectively, while the emission bands are 523–669 nm, 520–1031 nm, and 490–1010 nm, respectively. Furthermore, issues hindering the development of spectral modification technologies are pointed out, e.g., low absorption efficiency, poor quantum conversion efficiency, and hurdles in commercialization. Finally, suggestions and solutions to address the above-mentioned issues are provided.

Enhancement of solar cell performance with the Pb incorporation in CdS quantum dots

Enhancement of solar cell performance with the Pb incorporation in CdS quantum dots

Metacognitive Enhancement in Diversifying Ideological and Political Education within Graduate Course: A Case Study on “Solar Cell Performance Enhancement Technology”

Metacognitive Enhancement in Diversifying Ideological and Political Education within Graduate Course: A Case Study on “Solar Cell Performance Enhancement Technology”

First‐Principles Electronic Structure Calculations on Modified Graphene Sheets for Solar Cell Applications: A Review

AbstractAs industrial development and over‐consumption of fossil fuel resources lead to an increasing demand for renewable and sustainable energy sources, making solar energy an ideal source of energy. Graphene has attracted much attention in the field of solar cells due to its unique electronic, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties, as well as its high specific surface area, high carrier mobility, and high Young's modulus. In this comprehensive review article, we summarize the theoretical advances of graphene and its derivatives, such as graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, graphene quantum dots, hybridized graphene, and graphene doped with heteroatoms, in the field of solar cells. The observed enhancement of solar cell performance due to the incorporation of graphene and its derivatives is explained in detail by first‐principles. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the fundamental mechanisms of the interactions between graphene and its derivatives solar cells through first‐principles to provide theoretical support for their continued development in the field of solar cells, while paving the way for the creation of new strategies to improve solar cell performance and advance the development of sustainable energy technologies.

Characterization and application of nano-composite zinc oxide/poly vinyl alcohol thin-film in solar cell performance enhancement

Characterization and application of nano-composite zinc oxide/poly vinyl alcohol thin-film in solar cell performance enhancement

Performance enhancement of solar cells based on high photoelectric conversion efficiency of h-BN and metal nanoparticles.

In this article, we propose a new type of CdTe thin-film solar cell based on a CdTe/CdS heterojunction. We used the finite difference time domain method to simulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the time domain under certain boundary conditions and the change in the absorption rate of cells when optimising the structure. The simulation shows that the light absorption rate of the cell is significantly enhanced after adding h-BN and metal particles to the proposed structure. Under the irradiation of standard light AM1.5 with the wavelength range of 300 nm to 1000 nm, presenting a 90% absorption bandwidth over 700 nm, and the average absorption rate is as high as 92.9%. The short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage are 30.98 mA/cm2 and 1.155 V, respectively, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) increases to 30.76%, which is an increase of 27.58% compared to the original PCE. The result shows that, after metal nanoparticles are embedded in the absorption layer of the cell, the free electrons on the surface of the metal particles oscillate under the action of light. The electromagnetic field is confined to a small area on the surface of the particles and is enhanced, which is beneficial for the absorption of light by the cells. This study provides a basis for theoretical research and feasible solutions for the manufacture of thin-film solar cells with a high absorption rate and high efficiency.

Performance enhancement of solar cells by incorporating Nano-Composite Material: A review

At present, the form of energies which are being used to produce the electricity injects lots of harmful gases into the environment. In the recent report on the environment, it has been revealed that the temperature of earth is increasing rapidly and due to this effect of global warming, horrifying climate change may happen. Therefore, application of renewable energy systems can help to reduce the use of fossil fuel as well as reduces the harmful contaminant like CO2 from the environment. Solar energy can be utilized in many ways for conversion of solar radiation energy into useful applications. Photovoltaic cell is an example of renewable energy systems which converts the solar light into direct electricity. But the conversion efficiency and material associated with PV systems are costly as compared the system based on fossil fuels for commercial purpose. Therefore research works are being done in order to improve the conversion efficiency and to make PV system more viable. The aim of this study is to make an extensive review for designing and application of Nano-composites in different types of solar cells.

Interfacial Enhancement of Photovoltaic Performance in MAPbI3/CsPbI3 Superlattice.

Perovskite solar cells have continued to fascinate over the past decade due to fast increasing power conversion efficiency and very low fabrication cost but still suffered from poor stability. Interface engineering is evolved to be one of the most promising solutions to the instability problem. In this work, we perform a first-principles study on the MAPbI3/CsPbI3 interface system, aiming at clarifying the underlying mechanism of interfacial enhancement of solar cell performance. We devise the atomistic modeling of superlattices as increasing the number of included unit cells and carry out structural optimizations, revealing that the binding strength between the perovskite layers becomes stronger while the band gap decreases as the supercell size increases. Using enough large supercells of the interface system, we further estimate the formation energies of the interfacial vacancy defects and activation barriers for vacancy-mediated I atom migrations. Our calculations show the shallow transition states for most of the defects and the higher activation barriers for I atom migrations across the interface, providing an evidence of performance enhancement by the interface formation. By giving an insightful understanding of the MAPbI3/CsPbI3 heterojunction, this work definitely contributes to the design of interface systems for high-performance solar cells.

Enhancement of the photovoltaic properties of Ag2BiI5by Cu doping

Doping Cu into silver bismuth iodide (SBI) induced a considerable increase in light absorption, resultantly leading to the enhancement of solar cell performance by 25%.

Toward quantum efficiency enhancement of kesterite nanostructured absorber: A prospective of carrier quantization effect

In this work, the carrier confinement mechanism through nanostructures is studied in a copper-zinc-tin-sulfide/Cu2ZnSnSe4-type kesterite material, resulting in a remarkable performance enhancement of solar cells. The effect of the quantized energy band, recombination rate, and escape mechanism on the spectral response of solar cells is explored in detail. The mathematical model for carrier dynamics and performance measuring parameters are analyzed and optimized. Moreover, the number of quantum wells is incorporated gradually up to 100 and the corresponding performances are explored. It is observed that with the increase in the number of wells, photogenerated current density enhances significantly up to a saturation point and then deteriorates. A remarkable efficiency of 24.8% and more than 80% of quantum efficiency are achieved from 50 numbers of quantum wells with 79.8% of fill factor.

Understanding the Effect of End Group Halogenation in Tuning Miscibility and Morphology of High‐Performance Small Molecular Acceptors

A multitude of studies have been conducted on organic solar cells (OSCs) to understand how end group halogenation changes the property of the small molecular acceptors (SMAs) energetically, morphologically, and so on. But how the halogenation impacts the miscibility between SMAs and polymers, which is an important index to thermodynamically predict and understand the morphology of blend films, has not been systematically studied, particularly for the state‐of‐the‐art polymer–SMA blends. Herein, three series of asymmetric or symmetric SMAs, all reported recently with high photovoltaic performances, are used to investigate the effect of halogenation on miscibility, crystallinity, and solar cell performance. Using the asymmetric SMA named TPIC, and its derivatives (TPIC‐4F and TPIC‐4Cl) as the focus, it is revealed that the enhancement in solar cell performance for the halogenated SMAs is to reduce the miscibility between the acceptor and donor, which leads to a more favorable morphology, enhanced charge transport, and an extended absorption range. Similarly, the halogenation‐induced reduction in miscibility for the initially overmixed donor:acceptor blend is also demonstrated in the symmetric ITIC and the state‐of‐the‐art BTP series, where attractive power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 16.5% and 16.8%, respectively, are achieved by the halogenated‐SMA‐based devices in each series.

Solar cell performance enhancement with optimized CIGS absorber bandgap and buffer layer

In the past years, record efficiency of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) based solar cells has improved reaching 22.6%. This result shows that CIGS absorbent is idealistic for thin-film solar cells. The most attractive feature in CIGS is the tunable bandgap of the absorber layer that varies from 1.06 eV to 1.7 eV depending on the gallium fraction. This feature leads to best match the solar spectrum. In the present work, the influence of the bandgap of the absorber is investigated using solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS). An optimum bandgap of 1.39 eV results in a maximum efficiency of 24.288%. In order to get a Cd-free CIGS based thin film solar cell the CdS buffer layer is replaced by In2S3. The results show that In2S3 is a proper alternative that does not degrade th3e cell performance.

Perovskite Solar Cells: Additional Organic‐Solvent‐Rinsing Process to Enhance Perovskite Photovoltaic Performance (Adv. Electron. Mater. 10/2019)

In combination with low-temperature annealing and organic-solvent rinsing at the surface of a perovskite intermediate, it is possible to recrystallize into larger sizes and induce PbI2 passivation, as demonstrated by Zhiqun He and coworkers in article number 1900244. This process leads to a substantial enhancement in solar-cell performance.

Performance Enhancement of Solar Cell by Incorporating Bilayer RGO-ITO Smart Conducting Antireflection Coating.

Multilayered graphene deposited on a flat resistive surface has twofold benefits. Less electronic scattering reduces the sheet resistance of the combined bilayer and high photon scattering through the unavoidable wrinkles on the chemically synthesized graphene layer leads to decreased effective reflection. In this paper, wet‐chemically‐synthesized reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has been employed on the top of the indium‐doped tin‐oxide (ITO) layer. The ITO layer of optimized thickness has been deposited as an alternative antireflection coating (ARC) on a p/n junction based crystalline silicon solar cell with standard textured surface. Variation in spectral response has been studied experimentally for different thickness and surface coverage of RGO on ITO. The combined effect of reduced sheet resistance due to high surface conductivity and increased photon injection efficiency due to scattering from the wrinkles of RGO results in significant improvement in the performance of the solar cell. By employing optimum thickness of RGO, percentage enhancements of about 18% and 10%, respectively, in efficiency and short‐circuit current density have been achieved over the baseline cell structure. RGO also exhibits an additional benefit as a moisture repelling layer.

Enhancement of solar cell performance through the formation of a surface dipole on polyacrylonitrile-treated TiO2 photoelectrodes

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was adsorbed onto the TiO2 surface, and the resulting photoelectrodes were applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The DSSC with the PAN-modified TiO2 showed an increase in its short-circuit current (Jsc) and a decrease in its open-circuit voltage (Voc), resulting in a 17% enhancement of its photovoltaic performance when compared to the reference cell. By incorporating PAN onto the surface of the TiO2, a surface dipole was formed, which induced a conduction band edge shift of the TiO2 in a positive direction. This shift led to a considerable improvement in the electron injection efficiency, and hence the Jsc.

Graphene quantum dots decorated TiO2 mesoporous film as an efficient electron transport layer for high-performance perovskite solar cells

In mesoscopic perovskite solar cells, the electron transport layer plays an important role in charge extraction and determines the charge-transport property to attain a superior photovoltaic performance. Herein, we report a low-cost, solution-based deposition procedure of decorating graphene quantum dots on the surface of mesoporous TiO2 film, expecting that a more effective electron-transport channel can be formed for the enhancement of solar cell performance, finally, an impressive power conversion efficiency of 20.45% is achieved in the resulting optimized perovskite solar cell. Furthermore, the results of various spectroscopic characterizations including electronic impedance spectroscopy, steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectrum elucidate that the introduction of GQDs on the surface of mesoporous TiO2 film not only enhance the electron extraction but also facilitate the charge transportation at interface between the perovskite and electron transport layer.

First-principles study on the material properties of the inorganic perovskite Rb1−xCsxPbI3 for solar cell applications

Recently, replacing or mixing organic molecules in the hybrid halide perovskites with the inorganic Cs or Rb cations has been reported to increase the material stability with the comparable solar cell performance. In this work, we systematically investigate the electronic and optical properties of all-inorganic alkali iodide perovskites Rb1-xCsxPbI3 using the first-principles virtual crystal approximation calculations. Our calculations show that as increasing the Cs content x, lattice constants, band gaps, exciton binding energies, and effective masses of charge carriers decrease following the quadratic (linear for effective masses) functions, while static dielectric constants increase following the quadratic function, indicating an enhancement of solar cell performance upon the Rb addition to CsPbI3. When including the many-body interaction within the GW approximation and incorporating the spin-orbit coupling (SOC), we obtain more reliable band gap compared with experiment for CsPbI3, highlighting the importance of using GW+SOC approach for the all-inorganic as well as organic-inorganic hybrid halide perovskite materials.

Identifying Molecular Orientation in a Bulk Heterojunction Film by Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy.

The molecular orientation of organic molecules of zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) in single-component films on copper iodide (CuI) substrates can be controlled to achieve a molecular orientation lying flat on the substrate (flat-on) owing to π–d orbital interactions between the ZnPc molecules and the CuI. A 3-fold enhancement in the performance of organic photovoltaic cells has been reported by introducing a CuI interlayer between a ZnPc:fullerene (C60) bulk heterojunction (BHJ) film and the substrate. However, the mechanism underpinning the resultant solar cell performance enhancement was unclear. Herein, we report on the results of using in situ reflection absorption spectroscopy measurements during the vacuum deposition of coevaporated ZnPc:C60 BHJ films on various substrates to investigate the ZnPc molecular orientation. Our results revealed that the flat-on molecular orientation of ZnPc molecules in ZnPc:C60 BHJ films on CuI interlayers and flat-on ZnPc substrates can be successfully identified via the strong π–π interactions between the BHJ film and the substrate. The π–π interactions between individual ZnPc molecules are stronger than the π–d interactions between ZnPc molecules and CuI in coevaporated ZnPc:C60 films, as is evident from the molecular orientation of ZnPc, as determined by in situ reflection absorption spectroscopy. Our findings demonstrate that precisely controlling the molecular orientations of the films could enhance organic photovoltaic (OPV) performance. The present work provides important insights that will enable the design of higher performance OPV cells.

Alloy-Controlled Work Function for Enhanced Charge Extraction in All-Inorganic CsPbBr3 Perovskite Solar Cells.

All-inorganic CsPbX3 (X=I, Br) perovskite solar cells are regarded as cost-effective and stable alternatives for next-generation photovoltaics. However, sluggish charge extraction at CsPbX3 /charge-transporting material interfaces, which arises from large interfacial energy differences, have markedly limited the further enhancement of solar cell performance. In this work, the work function (WF) of the back electrode is tuned by doping alloyed PtNi nanowires in carbon ink to promote hole extraction from CsPbBr3 halides, while an intermediate energy by setting carbon quantum dots (CQDs) at TiO2 /CsPbBr3 interface bridges electron transportation. The preliminary results demonstrate that the matching WFs and intermediate energy level markedly reduce charge recombination. A power conversion efficiency of 7.17 % is achieved for the WF-tuned all-inorganic perovskite solar cell, in comparison with 6.10 % for the pristine device, and this is further increased to 7.86 % by simultaneously modifying with CQDs. The high efficiency and improved stability make WF-controlled all-inorganic perovskite solar cells promising to develop advanced photovoltaic platforms.

A new optical-electrical integrated buffer layer design based on gold nanoparticles tethered thiol containing sulfonated polyaniline towards enhancement of solar cell performance

In this work, we report on the design and synthesis of a new sulfonated polyaniline derivative containing thiol (-SH) groups (SPAN(SH)) to achieve effective dispersion of gold nanoparticles (GNP) into SPAN(SH) (SPAN(SH)@GNP). The photovoltaic performances of the poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl): indene-C60 bisadduct (P3HT: ICBA) were evaluated to elucidate the associated roles of SPAN(SH)@GNP NH (nanohybrid) buffer layer in the polymer solar cell (PSC) device architecture: ITO (Indium Tin Oxide)/SPAN(SH) or SPAN(SH)@GNP(X%) NH/Zinc Oxide (ZnO)/Al. The use of SPAN(SH)@GNP buffer layer significantly improved the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the fabricated PSC. Notably, buffer layer containing 1.66wt% of GNP with respect to the weight of SPAN(SH), (ITO/SPAN(SH)@GNP(1.66%)/P3HT: ICBA/ZnO/Al) exhibited an excellent improvement in the PCE (5.20%), which is much higher than that of the PCE (4.25%) with SPAN(SH) (ITO/SPAN(SH)/P3HT: ICBA/ZnO/Al). It has been demonstrated that the very strong near field of the GNP not only distributes laterally in the buffer layer but also vertically extends into the adjacent P3HT: ICBA (active) layer yielding an enhanced exciton generation in the active layer. The synergistic effects of energy level alignment, decreased interfacial resistance, effective hole extraction and increased surface area between the buffer/active layer, resulted in significant increase in the PCE. Our findings indicate that it is imperative to design the structure of the conducting polymer to have adequate interactions with the PNP for achieving strikingly enhanced PCE.