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Featured Papers in Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems Section

A topical collection in Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This collection belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

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Editors

Laboratory for Physics of Nanomaterials and Energy (LPNE), Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, University of Mons (UMONS), 20 Place du Parc, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
Interests: scanning probe microscopy; organic electronics; hybrid solar cells; themoelectricity & piezoelectricity at the nanoscale
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: electrical machines and drives; photovoltaic systems; applications of superconductors for electric power systems
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The Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
Interests: energy; optics; solar-cell theory; photovoltaics; nano-optics; nonlinear-optics
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano (Salerno), Italy
Interests: thermal systems; refrigeration systems; solar energy; concentrating photovoltaic and thermal (CPV/T) systems; solar cooling
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Department of Energy "Galileo Ferraris", Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
Interests: advanced heat transfer; nuclear fusion engineering; high heat flux components; superconducting cables and magnets; concentrated solar power; cryogenics; models and scenarios for energy planning
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School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics, Queensland University of Technology, George Street 2, 4059 Brisbane, Australia
Interests: modelling; characterisation; diagnostics; power conversion and grid and energy storage integration for photovoltaic systems
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School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: advanced photovoltaic concepts such as hot carrier solar cells; novel solar cell materials; nanostructured materials; thin film growth and characterisation; ion beam analysis
School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Waterloo Rd after, Coolinga St, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia
Interests: electrical energy (conversion, storage, systems); transport electrification

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Topical Collection aims to collect original papers and reviews reporting the latest advances in the broad field of solar and photovoltaic systems, including power generation and storage. We will focus on both established technologies applied in the real-world and prototype systems demonstrated on a laboratory scale. The demonstration of new material concepts and their application in devices is of particular relevance as a method of providing the community with new potential solutions for future applications.

Dr. Philippe Leclère
Prof. Dr. Paulo Jose Da Costa Branco
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Grandi
Prof. Dr. Avi Niv
Prof. Dr. Carlo Renno
Prof. Dr. Laura Savoldi
Prof. Dr. Dezso Sera
Prof. Dr. Santosh Shrestha
Prof. Dr. Graham Town
Prof. Dr. Dmitri Vinnikov
Collection 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 collection 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

  • Solar Energy:
    • irradiance;
    • forecasts;
    • solar power to gas;
    • photocatalytic hydrogen production;
    • solar energy for heating and cooling;
    • thermal energy storage;
    • solar thermal collectors;
    • solar thermodynamic energy
  • Photovoltaic (PV) systems:
    • PV cell materials;
    • balance of systems;
    • power electronics;
    • centralized and distributed control;
    • PV systems and electrical energy storage;
    • building integration;
    • PV systems monitoring and diagnosis;
    • Internet of Things (IoT) in PV systems;
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI) in PV systems;
    • PV power production forecasting;
    • PV power production for electrical mobility;
    • concentrated PV power;
    • PV system modeling;
    • PV for space applications;
    • techno-economics of PV systems;
    • environmental assessment of PV systems (LCA, EROEI)

 

Published Papers (3 papers)

2024

Jump to: 2023, 2021

13 pages, 2805 KiB  
Article
Scalable and Quench-Free Processing of Metal Halide Perovskites in Ambient Conditions
by Carsen Cartledge, Saivineeth Penukula, Antonella Giuri, Kayshavi Bakshi, Muneeza Ahmad, Mason Mahaffey, Muzhi Li, Rui Zhang, Aurora Rizzo and Nicholas Rolston
Energies 2024, 17(6), 1455; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17061455 - 18 Mar 2024
Viewed by 528
Abstract
With the rise of global warming and the growing energy crisis, scientists have pivoted from typical resources to look for new materials and technologies. Perovskite materials hold the potential for making high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells through solution processing of Earth-abundant materials; however, scalability, [...] Read more.
With the rise of global warming and the growing energy crisis, scientists have pivoted from typical resources to look for new materials and technologies. Perovskite materials hold the potential for making high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells through solution processing of Earth-abundant materials; however, scalability, stability, and durability remain key challenges. In order to transition from small-scale processing in inert environments to higher throughput processing in ambient conditions, the fundamentals of perovskite crystallization must be understood. Classical nucleation theory, the LaMer relation, and nonclassical crystallization considerations are discussed to provide a mechanism by which a gellan gum (GG) additive—a nontoxic polymeric saccharide—has enabled researchers to produce quality halide perovskite thin-film blade coated in ambient conditions without a quench step. Furthermore, we report on the improved stability and durability properties inherent to these films, which feature improved morphologies and optoelectronic properties compared to films spin-coated in a glovebox with antisolvent. We tune the amount of GG in the perovskite precursor and study the interplay between GG concentration and processability, morphological control, and increased stability under humidity, heat, and mechanical testing. The simplicity of this approach and insensitivity to environmental conditions enable a wide process window for the production of low-defect, mechanically robust, and operationally stable perovskites with fracture energies among the highest obtained for perovskites. Full article
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2023

Jump to: 2024, 2021

15 pages, 16423 KiB  
Article
Performance Optimization of CsPb(I1–xBrx)3 Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells with Gradient Bandgap
by Luning Wang, Sui Yang, Tingting Xi, Qingchen Yang, Jie Yi, Hongxing Li and Jianxin Zhong
Energies 2023, 16(10), 4135; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16104135 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1128
Abstract
In recent years, inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on CsPbI3 have made significant progress in stability compared to hybrid organic–inorganic PSCs by substituting the volatile organic component with Cs cations. However, the cubic perovskite structure of α-CsPbI3 changes to the [...] Read more.
In recent years, inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on CsPbI3 have made significant progress in stability compared to hybrid organic–inorganic PSCs by substituting the volatile organic component with Cs cations. However, the cubic perovskite structure of α-CsPbI3 changes to the orthorhombic non-perovskite phase at room temperature resulting in efficiency degradation. The partial substitution of an I ion with Br ion benefits for perovskite phase stability. Unfortunately, the substitution of Br ion would enlarge bandgap reducing the absorption spectrum range. To optimize the balance between band gap and stability, introducing and optimizing the spatial bandgap gradation configuration is an effective method to broaden the light absorption and benefit the perovskite phase stability. As the bandgap of the CsPb(I1–xBrx)3 perovskite layer can be adjusted by I-Br composition engineering, the performance of CsPb(I1–xBrx)3 based PSCs with three different spatial variation Br doping composition profiles were investigated. The effects of uniform doping and gradient doping on the performance of PSCs were investigated. The results show that bandgap (Eg) and electron affinity(χ) attributed to an appropriate energy band offset, have the most important effects on PSCs performance. With a positive conduction band offset (CBO) of 0.2 eV at the electron translate layer (ETL)/perovskite interface, and a positive valence band offset (VBO) of 0.24 eV at the hole translate layer (HTL)/perovskite interface, the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.90% with open–circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.39 V, short–circuit current (JSC) of 20.22 mA/cm2 and filling factor (FF) of 81.61% was obtained in uniform doping CsPb(I1–xBrx)3 based PSCs with x = 0.09. By carrying out a further optimization of the uniform doping configuration, the evaluation of a single band gap gradation configuration was investigated. By introducing a back gradation of band gap directed towards the back contact, an optimized band offset (front interface CBO = 0.18 eV, back interface VBO = 0.15 eV) was obtained, increasing the efficiency to 23.03%. Finally, the double gradient doping structure was further evaluated. The highest PCE is 23.18% with VOC close to 1.44 V, JSC changes to 19.37 mA/cm2 and an FF of 83.31% was obtained. Full article
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2021

Jump to: 2024, 2023

16 pages, 10431 KiB  
Article
A Hybrid Maximum Power Point Tracking Method without Oscillations in Steady-State for Photovoltaic Energy Systems
by Chih-Chiang Hua and Yu-Jun Zhan
Energies 2021, 14(18), 5590; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14185590 - 07 Sep 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1494
Abstract
This paper proposes a hybrid maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method with zero oscillation in steady-state by combining genetic algorithm (GA) and perturbation and observation (P&O) method. The proposed MPPT can track the global maximum power point (GMPP) fast for a photovoltaic (PV) [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a hybrid maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method with zero oscillation in steady-state by combining genetic algorithm (GA) and perturbation and observation (P&O) method. The proposed MPPT can track the global maximum power point (GMPP) fast for a photovoltaic (PV) system even under partial shaded conditions (PSC). The oscillations around the GMPP are eliminated and the power loss can be reduced significantly. In addition, the proposed MPPT can make the PV system operate at the highest efficiencies under various atmospheric conditions. During the MPP tracking, the system will oscillate around the MPPs, resulting in unnecessary power loss. To solve the problem, the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, such as PSO, Bee Colony optimization, GA, etc., were developed to deal with this issue. However, the problem with the AI algorithm is that the time for convergence may be too long if the range of the MPP search space is large. In addition, if the atmospheric conditions change fast, the PV system may operate at or close to the local maximum power points (LMPPs) for a long time. In this paper, a method combining the P&O’s fast tracking and GA’s GMPP tracking ability is proposed. The proposed system can stop the oscillations as soon as the GMPP is found, thus minimizing the power loss due to oscillations. The proposed MPPT can achieve superior performance while maintaining the simplicity of implementation. Finally, the simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system. Full article
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