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Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells
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Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (17 January 2024) | Viewed by 7613

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vera C. M. Duarte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, PT 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
2. ALiCE-Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, PT 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: perovskite solar cells; dye-sensitized solar cells; photoelectrochemistry; characterization of photoelectrochemical devices; phenomenological modeling of photoelectrochemical devices; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Luísa Andrade

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, Porto, Portugal
2. ALiCE-Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4100 Porto, Portugal
Interests: perovskite solar cells; up-scaling techniques; characterization of photoelectrochemical devices; electrochemical reactors; chromatographic analysis; organic synthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editors are inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Energies on the subject area “Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells”. Solar cells are devices that use the photovoltaic effect to convert energy of sunlight directly into electricity. The actual energetic crisis has reinforced that transition of the energy system from fossil to renewable energy sources. Among the renewable technologies, solar energy takes the advantage of being everlasting, safe, and noise/pollution-free. Silicon solar panels are the most common solar technology, occupying more than 90% of the global photovoltaic market, however the efficiency is significantly under the theoretical limit of 30%. Alternative low-cost and high-efficiency materials are emerging with global efficiencies surpassing the 25% for perovskite solar cells and 30% for the perovskite/silicon tandem devices.

This Special Issue aims to provide an overview of the recent technology advancements in the fabrication of solar cells. Relevant experimental and theoretical papers related to the above-mentioned topic are welcome, including, but not limited to, perovskite solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, organic/inorganic cells, Si, CdTe, CIGS, and tandem devices. Papers submitted to this Special Issue will be subject to a meticulous peer-review process with the goal of fast and effective dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Dr. Vera C.M. Duarte
Dr. Luísa Andrade
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. Energies 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 2600 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

  • emergent solar cells
  • tandem devices
  • materials
  • modelling
  • design
  • upscaling
  • prototyping

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2179 KiB  
Article
Green Anisole Solvent-Based Synthesis and Deposition of Phthalocyanine Dopant-Free Hole-Transport Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells
by Suresh K. Podapangi, Laura Mancini, Jie Xu, Sathy Harshavardhan Reddy, Aldo Di Carlo, Thomas M. Brown and Gloria Zanotti
Energies 2023, 16(9), 3643; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093643 - 24 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1769
Abstract
Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) have attracted attention due to their low cost, easy solution processability, high efficiency, and scalability. However, the benchmark expensive hole transport material (HTM) 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis[N, N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-MeOTAD), which is traditionally solution-processed with toxic solvents such as chlorobenzene (CB), dichlorobenzene (DCB), [...] Read more.
Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) have attracted attention due to their low cost, easy solution processability, high efficiency, and scalability. However, the benchmark expensive hole transport material (HTM) 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis[N, N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-MeOTAD), which is traditionally solution-processed with toxic solvents such as chlorobenzene (CB), dichlorobenzene (DCB), or toluene, is a bottleneck. To address this issue, this work investigates the implementation of Zn(II), Cu(II), or Co(II) tetra-tert-butylphthalocyanines (TBU4-Cu, TBU4-Zn, TBU4-Co), established macrocyclic derivatives whose synthesis and processing inside the devices have been redesigned to be more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective by substituting conventional solvents with greener alternatives such as anisole, propane-1,2-diol, and their mixture, as dopant-free HTMs in planar n-i-p PSCs. The anisole-processed HTMs provided power conversion efficiencies (PCE) up to 12.27% for TBU4-Cu and 11.73% for TBU4-Zn, with better photovoltaic parameters than the corresponding cells made with chlorobenzene for which the best results obtained were, respectively, 12.22% and 10.81%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells)
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Review

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19 pages, 5510 KiB  
Review
A Review on Dry Deposition Techniques: Pathways to Enhanced Perovskite Solar Cells
by Jae-Keun Hwang, Seok-Hyun Jeong, Donghwan Kim, Hae-Seok Lee and Yoonmook Kang
Energies 2023, 16(16), 5977; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16165977 - 14 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1537
Abstract
This review discusses the use of evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, and sputtering as the three main dry deposition techniques currently available for fabricating perovskite solar cells. We outline the distinct advantages that each method offers in terms of film quality, control, and scalability. [...] Read more.
This review discusses the use of evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, and sputtering as the three main dry deposition techniques currently available for fabricating perovskite solar cells. We outline the distinct advantages that each method offers in terms of film quality, control, and scalability. Additionally, recent advancements in process optimization and the integration of dry deposition with other fabrication techniques are highlighted. Thus, this review provides valuable insights into the potential of dry deposition processes to produce high-performance perovskite solar cells and aids researchers and industry professionals in selecting the most suitable technique for the fabrication of efficient and stable devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells)
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35 pages, 7332 KiB  
Review
Current Progress of Efficient Active Layers for Organic, Chalcogenide and Perovskite-Based Solar Cells: A Perspective
by Francisca Werlinger, Camilo Segura, Javier Martínez, Igor Osorio-Roman, Danilo Jara, Seog Joon Yoon and Andrés Fabián Gualdrón-Reyes
Energies 2023, 16(16), 5868; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16165868 - 08 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1499
Abstract
Photovoltaics has become one of the emerging alternatives to progressively supply/replace conventional energy sources, considering the potential exploitation of solar energy. Depending on the nature of the light harvester to influence on its light-absorption capability and the facility to produce electricity, different generations [...] Read more.
Photovoltaics has become one of the emerging alternatives to progressively supply/replace conventional energy sources, considering the potential exploitation of solar energy. Depending on the nature of the light harvester to influence on its light-absorption capability and the facility to produce electricity, different generations of solar devices have been fabricated. Early studies of organic molecules (dye sensitizers) with good absorption coefficients, going through metal chalcogenides and, lastly, the timely emergence of halide perovskites, have promoted the development of novel and low-cost solar cells with promising photoconversion efficiency (PCE), close to the well-established Si-based devices. However, main drawbacks such as the degradation/photocorrosion of the active layer, the existence of intrinsic defect sites, and the inherent toxicity of the material due to the presence of some harmful elements have blocked the future commercialization of the above kind of solar cells. In this review, we highlight the current progress in achieving efficient photomaterials for organic, chalcogenides and halide perovskites-based solar cells with the purpose of achieving high PCE values, some of which are breakthroughs in this research topic, and the diverse approaches used to extend the stability of the active layer and improve the performance of the solar devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells)
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23 pages, 8917 KiB  
Review
Cooling of Concentrated Photovoltaic Cells—A Review and the Perspective of Pulsating Flow Cooling
by Khalifa Aliyu Ibrahim, Patrick Luk and Zhenhua Luo
Energies 2023, 16(6), 2842; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062842 - 18 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2231
Abstract
This article presents a review to provide up-to-date research findings on concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cooling, explore the key challenges and opportunities, and discuss the limitations. In addition, it provides a vision of a possible future trend and a glimpse of a promising novel [...] Read more.
This article presents a review to provide up-to-date research findings on concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cooling, explore the key challenges and opportunities, and discuss the limitations. In addition, it provides a vision of a possible future trend and a glimpse of a promising novel approach to CPV cooling based on pulsating flow, in contrast to existing cooling methods. Non-concentrated photovoltaics (PV) have modest efficiency of up to around 20% because they utilise only a narrow spectrum of solar irradiation for electricity conversion. Therefore, recent advances employed multi-junction PV or CPV to widen the irradiation spectrum for conversion. CPV systems concentrate solar irradiation on the cell’s surface, producing high solar flux and temperature. The efficient cooling of CPV cells is critical to avoid thermal degradation and ensure optimal performance. Studies have shown that pulsating flow can enhance heat transfer in various engineering applications. The advantage of pulsating flow over steady flow is that it can create additional turbulence and mixing in the fluid, resulting in a higher heat transfer coefficient. Simulation results with experimental validation demonstrate the enhancement of this new cooling approach for future CPV systems. The use of pulsating flow in CPV cooling has shown promising results in improving heat transfer and reducing temperature gradients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies of Solar Cells)
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