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Applied Sciences
Special Issues
Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications
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Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 March 2021) | Viewed by 14258

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Allen Barnett

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Guest Editor
Adjunct Faculty, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Interests: sustainable electricity generation; design, fabrication, and analysis of high-efficiency solar cells, modules, and systems; new high efficiency solar cell modules; thin crystalline silicon (20+%) and tandem solar cells on silicon (30+%)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Moustafa Ghannam

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Guest Editor
College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Interests: novel analysis of the very high performance hydrogenated amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells [HIT]; modelling the splitting of thin silicon films from porosified crystalline silicon; design and analysis of new solar cell concepts
Dr. Ivan Perez-Wurfl

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Guest Editor
Senior Lecturer/Undergraduate Academic Adviser, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia
Interests: thin films and nanotechnology; photovoltaics; nanocrystals; materials characterization
Dr. Xiaoting Wang

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Guest Editor
Energy Specialist, Bloomberg, NEF, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA
Interests: technologies along the PV value chain, from manufacturing to asset maintenance, as well as innovations for the energy sector coupling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to submit your original research or review papers to this Special Issue on “Next Generation Photovoltaic Solar Cells, Modules, Systems, and Applications 2020” in Applied Sciences.

This Special Issue will focus on the science and engineering of the next generation of photovoltaics.  Photovoltaics have achieved extraordinary growth over the past few decades.  This growth has been stimulated by the high performance and low cost of silicon wafer-based solar cells. Nonetheless, we are in the early stages of PV (photovoltaic) applications.

This Special Issue is directed to a view beyond the present products, concepts, and applications. Among the areas of interest are the values of efficiency, durability, lightweight, flexibility, device integration, storage, and system integration.

Some specific topics include advances in commercial Si (PERC and SHJ), III-Vs, perovskites, CdTe, CIGS, and other new materials. Single junction, tandem solar cells, concentrators, and new concepts and devices are welcome. Some new research areas include carrier selective contacts for Si PV; low-cost III–V growth; and cell interconnection, encapsulation, and reliability.

Some specific new application areas include photovoltaics for lightweight industrial and commercial roofs, factory integration for increased markets and reduced kWh costs, and portable (transportable) applications.  Other new areas include persistent drone aircrafts as well as other specialty high-performance requirements. Integrated systems and applications that are scalable and can be integrated are also being solicited. 

This Special Issue is an opportunity to describe the visions we have for everything PVOT as we enter a period of ubiquitous photovoltaics or photovoltaics.

Prof. Allen Barnett
Prof. Moustafa Ghannam
Dr. Ivan Perez-Wurfl
Dr. Xiaoting Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Next generation solar cells (improved silicon and other materials)
  • New PV materials
  • Value of efficiency
  • Numerical models
  • New application areas
  • Beyond utility scale systems
  • Integration of PV with applications
  • Portable and transportable applications
  • Critical technologies for advancing PV integration
  • Multi-TW PV future
  • Laboratory to market
  • PV deployment, policy, and sustainability.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1833 KiB  
Article
Numerical Analysis of the Detailed Balance of Multiple Exciton Generation Solar Cells with Nonradiative Recombination
by Jongwon Lee and Christiana B. Honsberg
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(16), 5558; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10165558 - 11 Aug 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3178
Abstract
In this study, we analyzed the nonradiative recombination impact of multiple exciton generation solar cells (MEGSCs) with a revised detailed balance (DB) limit. The nonideal quantum yield (QY) of a material depends on the surface defects or the status of the material. Thus, [...] Read more.
In this study, we analyzed the nonradiative recombination impact of multiple exciton generation solar cells (MEGSCs) with a revised detailed balance (DB) limit. The nonideal quantum yield (QY) of a material depends on the surface defects or the status of the material. Thus, its QY shape deviates from the ideal QY because of carrier losses. We used the ideal reverse saturation current variation in the DB of MEGSCs to explain the impact of nonradiative recombination. We compared ideal and nonideal QYs with the nonradiative recombination into the DB of MEGSCs under one-sun and full-light concentration. Through this research, we seek to develop a strategy to maintain MEGSC performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications)
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22 pages, 3043 KiB  
Article
Novel Utility-Scale Photovoltaic Plant Electroluminescence Maintenance Technique by Means of Bidirectional Power Inverter Controller
by Javier Ballestín-Fuertes, Jesús Muñoz-Cruzado-Alba, José F. Sanz-Osorio, Luis Hernández-Callejo, Victor Alonso-Gómez, José Ignacio Morales-Aragones, Sara Gallardo-Saavedra, Oscar Martínez-Sacristan and Ángel Moretón-Fernández
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(9), 3084; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10093084 - 28 Apr 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3204
Abstract
Nowadays, photovoltaic (PV) silicon plants dominate the growth in renewable energies generation. Utility-scale photovoltaic plants (USPVPs) have increased exponentially in size and power in the last decade and, therefore, it is crucial to develop optimum maintenance techniques. One of the most promising maintenance [...] Read more.
Nowadays, photovoltaic (PV) silicon plants dominate the growth in renewable energies generation. Utility-scale photovoltaic plants (USPVPs) have increased exponentially in size and power in the last decade and, therefore, it is crucial to develop optimum maintenance techniques. One of the most promising maintenance techniques is the study of electroluminescence (EL) images as a complement of infrared thermography (IRT) analysis. However, its high cost has prevented its use regularly up to date. This paper proposes a maintenance methodology to perform on-site EL inspections as efficiently as possible. First, current USPVP characteristics and the requirements to apply EL on them are studied. Next, an increase over the automation level by means of adding automatic elements in the current PV plant design is studied. The new elements and their configuration are explained, and a control strategy for applying this technique on large photovoltaic plants is developed. With the aim of getting on-site EL images on a real plant, a PV inverter has been developed to validate the proposed methodology on a small-scale solar plant. Both the electrical parameters measured during the tests and the images taken have been analysed. Finally, the implementation cost of the solution has been calculated and optimised. The results conclude the technical viability to perform on-site EL inspections on PV plants without the need to measure and analyse the panel defects out of the PV installation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications)
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10 pages, 3074 KiB  
Article
Shading on Photovoltaic Collectors on Rooftops
by Avi Aronescu and Joseph Appelbaum
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2977; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082977 - 24 Apr 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2825
Abstract
Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in urban environments play an important role in solar electric energy generation. Shading on PV collectors, by self-shading, walls and fences on rooftops, affect negatively the output energy of the PV systems. Increasing the distance between the collector rows, [...] Read more.
Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in urban environments play an important role in solar electric energy generation. Shading on PV collectors, by self-shading, walls and fences on rooftops, affect negatively the output energy of the PV systems. Increasing the distance between the collector rows, and between the walls and fences near to the collectors, may minimize the shading losses. Practically, this option is usually limited, especially on rooftops. Rooftops may be of different types: horizontal, inclined, and saw-tooth, and may have obscuring structures like walls and fences. The distance between the shading objects and the PV collector rows determine the loss of energy due to shading. The study provides the PV system designer with mathematical expressions for distances from obscuring objects for the deployment of PV systems on rooftops. The optimal inclination and azimuths angles of a PV system on a triangular sloped rooftop are also illustrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications)
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15 pages, 5318 KiB  
Article
Design and Research of a Color Discrimination Method for Polycrystalline Silicon Cells Based on Laser Detection System
by Zijian Chen, Shiyu Wang, Lian Zhang and Zenghong Ma
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(20), 4468; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9204468 - 22 Oct 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2099
Abstract
In this paper, a method of color discrimination based on sample sensitivity to light wavelength is proposed based on the reflection spectra of a large number of samples and the statistical calculation of the measurement data. A laser detection system is designed to [...] Read more.
In this paper, a method of color discrimination based on sample sensitivity to light wavelength is proposed based on the reflection spectra of a large number of samples and the statistical calculation of the measurement data. A laser detection system is designed to realize the color discrimination. For the color discrimination of polycrystalline silicon cells, the most sensitive wavelength, 434 nm, and the least sensitive wavelength, 645 nm, of polycrystalline silicon cells is obtained according to this method. A laser detection system was built to measure the polycrystalline silicon cells. This system consists of two lasers, optical shutters, collimating beam expanding systems, an optical coaxial system, sample platform, collecting lens, and optical power meter or optical sensor. Two laser beams of different wavelengths are beamed coaxially through the optical coaxial system onto a polycrystalline silicon cell and are reflected or scattered. The reflected or scattered lights are collected through a lens with a high number aperture and received separately by the optical power meter. Then the color value of the polycrystalline silicon cell in this system is characterized by the ratio of light intensity data received. The system measured a large number of previous polycrystalline silicon cells to form the different color categories of polycrystalline silicon cells of this system in the computer database. When a new polycrystalline silicon cell is measured, the color discrimination system can automatically classify the new polycrystalline silicon cell to a certain color category in order to achieve color discrimination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications)
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14 pages, 5264 KiB  
Article
Shading by Overhang PV Collectors
by Joseph Appelbaum, Avi Aronescu and Tamir Maor
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(20), 4280; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9204280 - 12 Oct 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2183
Abstract
Photovoltaic modules integrated into buildings may provide shading to windows, doors and walls to protect against sun rays and at the same time generate ancillary electrical energy. The study develops the methodology for calculating the shadow variation cast by overhangs on doors, windows, [...] Read more.
Photovoltaic modules integrated into buildings may provide shading to windows, doors and walls to protect against sun rays and at the same time generate ancillary electrical energy. The study develops the methodology for calculating the shadow variation cast by overhangs on doors, windows, carports, and calculates the annual incident energy (beam, diffuse and global energy) on overhangs made up of conventional and bifacial PV modules. The methodology of the present study is different from published articles including software programs. The study starts with shadows on walls cast by a horizontal pole and follows by shadows on walls cast by horizontal plates, inclined pole, inclined plate, and shaded area. The study deals also with overhangs placed one above the other. The calculation of the diffuse radiation involves the calculation of view factors to sky, to ground and between overhangs. In addition, the present study suggests using bifacial PV modules for overhangs and calculates the contribution of the reflective energy (5% and more) from walls and ground to the rear side of the bifacial PV module. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next Generation Solar Cells, Modules and Applications)
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