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Advances in Photovoltaic Materials
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Advances in Photovoltaic Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2022) | Viewed by 18726

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ewa Klugmann-Radziemska

E-Mail Website1 Website2 Website3 Website4
Guest Editor
Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Interests: photovoltaic solar cells and modules; renewable sources; waste energy recovery; solar radiation; material recycling; energy storage

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The most important material for solar cell production is silicon. At the present time, it is almost the only material used for the mass production of solar cells. Being the most often used semiconductor material, it has some important advantages. Though single-crystalline silicon solar cells have been the most efficient and advanced of all cells, their disadvantage is the cost factor. Thus, alternatives to silicon are being considered today.  

The materials sought by the photovoltaic market should be efficient, nontoxic, available and affordable, and they should have stable physical and chemical properties. 

Recent research was focused on several materials that meet the aforementioned criteria only in part. Gallium arsenide is used in the production of high-efficiency solar cells. It is often utilized in concentrated PV systems and space applications. Their efficiency is as good, reaching as high as 28% at concentrated solar radiation, while special types can have an efficiency of over 30%. Cadmium telluride thin-film material produced by deposition or by sputtering is a promising low-cost foundation for photovoltaic applications in the future. The disadvantage of this procedure, however, is that the materials used in production are toxic. Dye-sensitized cells imitate the way that plants and certain algae convert sunlight into energy. The cells are inexpensive, easy to produce, and can withstand long exposure to light and heat compared to traditional silicon-based solar cells. Further, the organolead halide perovskite-structured solar cell is considered one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies due to its rapid progress in energy conversion efficiency. 

However, no ideal material has yet been found to compete with crystalline silicon. We kindly invite you to submit a manuscript(s) for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ewa Klugmann-Radziemska
Guest Editor

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. Materials 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

  • photovoltaic solar cells
  • photovoltaic modules
  • photovoltaic materials
  • crystalline silicon
  • silicon thin film solar cells
  • amorphous silicon
  • chalcogenide thin film solar cells
  • gallium arsenide
  • organometallics
  • perovskites
  • dye-sensitized solar cells

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 5779 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost and Efficient Nickel Nitroprusside/Graphene Nanohybrid Electrocatalysts as Counter Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Md. Mahbubur Rahman
Materials 2021, 14(21), 6563; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216563 - 01 Nov 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1745
Abstract
Novel nickel nitroprusside (NNP) nanoparticles with incorporated graphene nanoplatelets (NNP/GnP) were used for the first time as a low-cost and effective counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). NNP was synthesized at a low-temperature (25 °C) solution process with suitable purity and [...] Read more.
Novel nickel nitroprusside (NNP) nanoparticles with incorporated graphene nanoplatelets (NNP/GnP) were used for the first time as a low-cost and effective counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). NNP was synthesized at a low-temperature (25 °C) solution process with suitable purity and crystallinity with a size range from 5 to 10 nm, as confirmed by different spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. The incorporation of an optimized amount of GnP (0.2 wt%) into the NNP significantly improved the electrocatalytic behavior for the redox reaction of iodide (I−)/tri-iodide (I3−) by decreasing the charge-transfer resistance at the CE/electrolyte interface, lower than the NNP- and GnP-CEs, and comparable to the Pt-CE. The NNP/GnP nanohybrid CE when applied in DSSC exhibited a PCE of 6.13% (under one sun illumination conditions) with the Jsc, Voc, and FF of 14.22 mA/cm2, 0.628 V, and 68.68%, respectively, while the PCE of the reference Pt-CE-based DSSC was 6.37% (Jsc = 14.47 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.635 V, and FF = 69.20%). The low cost of the NNP/GnP hybrid CE with comparable photovoltaic performance to Pt-CE can be potentially exploited as a suitable replacement of Pt-CE in DSSCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Materials)
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12 pages, 3641 KiB  
Article
Efficiency Boost in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Post- Annealing UV-Ozone Treatment of TiO2 Mesoporous Layer
by Dariusz Augustowski, Maciej Gala, Paweł Kwaśnicki and Jakub Rysz
Materials 2021, 14(16), 4698; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164698 - 20 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1874
Abstract
The organic residues on titanium(IV) oxide may be a significant factor that decreases the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Here, we suggest the UV-ozone cleaning process to remove impurities from the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles before dye-sensitizing. Data obtained from scanning [...] Read more.
The organic residues on titanium(IV) oxide may be a significant factor that decreases the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Here, we suggest the UV-ozone cleaning process to remove impurities from the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles before dye-sensitizing. Data obtained from scanning electron microscopy, Kelvin probe, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy showed that the amounts of organic contamination were successfully reduced. Additionally, the UV-VIS spectrophotometry, spectrofluorometry, and secondary ion mass spectrometry proved that after ozonization, the dyeing process was relevantly enhanced. Due to the removal of organics, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the prepared DSSC devices was boosted from 4.59% to 5.89%, which was mostly caused by the increment of short circuit current (Jsc) and slight improvement of the open circuit voltage (Voc). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Materials)
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10 pages, 1592 KiB  
Article
Electronic, Structural, and Optical Properties of Mono-Doped and Co-Doped (210) TiO2 Brookite Surfaces for Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells—A First Principles Study
by Ratshilumela S. Dima, Lutendo Phuthu, Nnditshedzeni E. Maluta, Joseph K. Kirui and Rapela R. Maphanga
Materials 2021, 14(14), 3918; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14143918 - 14 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1817
Abstract
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) polymorphs have recently gained a lot of attention in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The brookite polymorph, among other TiO2 polymorphs, is now becoming the focus of research in DSSC applications, despite the difficulties in obtaining it as [...] Read more.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) polymorphs have recently gained a lot of attention in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The brookite polymorph, among other TiO2 polymorphs, is now becoming the focus of research in DSSC applications, despite the difficulties in obtaining it as a pure phase experimentally. The current theoretical study used different nonmetals (C, S and N) and (C-S, C-N and S-N) as dopants and co-dopants, respectively, to investigate the effects of mono-doping and co-doping on the electronic, structural, and optical structure properties of (210) TiO2 brookite surfaces, which is the most exposed surface of brookite. The results show that due to the narrowing of the band gap and the presence of impurity levels in the band gap, all mono-doped and co-doped TiO2 brookite (210) surfaces exhibit some redshift. In particular, the C-doped, and C-N co-doped TiO2 brookite (210) surfaces exhibit better absorption in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum in comparison to the pure, S-doped, N-doped, C-S co-doped and N-S co-doped TiO2 brookite (210) surfaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Materials)
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13 pages, 3843 KiB  
Article
Role of Chemistry and Crystal Structure on the Electronic Defect States in Cs-Based Halide Perovskites
by Anirban Naskar, Rabi Khanal and Samrat Choudhury
Materials 2021, 14(4), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14041032 - 22 Feb 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2483
Abstract
The electronic structure of a series perovskites ABX3 (A = Cs; B = Ca, Sr, and Ba; X = F, Cl, Br, and I) in the presence and absence of antisite defect XB were systematically investigated based on density-functional-theory calculations. Both [...] Read more.
The electronic structure of a series perovskites ABX3 (A = Cs; B = Ca, Sr, and Ba; X = F, Cl, Br, and I) in the presence and absence of antisite defect XB were systematically investigated based on density-functional-theory calculations. Both cubic and orthorhombic perovskites were considered. It was observed that for certain perovskite compositions and crystal structure, presence of antisite point defect leads to the formation of electronic defect state(s) within the band gap. We showed that both the type of electronic defect states and their individual energy level location within the bandgap can be predicted based on easily available intrinsic properties of the constituent elements, such as the bond-dissociation energy of the B–X and X–X bond, the X–X covalent bond length, and the atomic size of halide (X) as well as structural characteristic such as B–X–B bond angle. Overall, this work provides a science-based generic principle to design the electronic states within the band structure in Cs-based perovskites in presence of point defects such as antisite defect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Materials)
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12 pages, 3921 KiB  
Article
Soiling Effect Mitigation Obtained by Applying Transparent Thin-Films on Solar Panels: Comparison of Different Types of Coatings
by Małgorzata Rudnicka and Ewa Klugmann-Radziemska
Materials 2021, 14(4), 964; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14040964 - 18 Feb 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2201
Abstract
Dust accumulation on the front cover of solar panels is closely linked to location and orientation of photovoltaic (PV) installation. Its build-up depends on the module tilt angle, frequency of precipitation, humidity, wind strength and velocity, as well as grain size. Additionally, soil [...] Read more.
Dust accumulation on the front cover of solar panels is closely linked to location and orientation of photovoltaic (PV) installation. Its build-up depends on the module tilt angle, frequency of precipitation, humidity, wind strength and velocity, as well as grain size. Additionally, soil composition is determined by solar farm surroundings such as local factories, agricultural crops, and traffic. Over time, molecules of atmospheric dust agglomerate on top of each other and cause gradual reduction in generated energy. Manual cleaning techniques are required to restore working conditions of PV installation to their original conditions; however, they are time consuming and may lead to damage of the glass coverage. Therefore, implementing a different approach by utilizing self-cleaning and anti-dust coatings on front covers of module surfaces is thought of as a competitive manner of cleansing. Based on the varying properties of such thin-films, a division was made into hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and anti-dust coatings. In this article, the authors would like to present a comprehensive review of those types of transparent films. Moreover, a few hydrophobic coatings available on the Polish market were analyzed by applying them on glass tiles and covering them with three types of dust. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Materials)
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Review

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30 pages, 7319 KiB  
Review
Photovoltaic Cell Generations and Current Research Directions for Their Development
by Justyna Pastuszak and Paweł Węgierek
Materials 2022, 15(16), 5542; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15165542 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 70 | Viewed by 7598
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the different generations of photovoltaic cells and current research directions focusing on their development and manufacturing technologies. The introduction describes the importance of photovoltaics in the context of environmental protection, as well as the elimination [...] Read more.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the different generations of photovoltaic cells and current research directions focusing on their development and manufacturing technologies. The introduction describes the importance of photovoltaics in the context of environmental protection, as well as the elimination of fossil sources. It then focuses on presenting the known generations of photovoltaic cells to date, mainly in terms of the achievable solar-to-electric conversion efficiencies, as well as the technology for their manufacture. In particular, the third generation of photovoltaic cells and recent trends in its field, including multi-junction cells and cells with intermediate energy levels in the forbidden band of silicon, are discussed. We also present the latest developments in photovoltaic cell manufacturing technology, using the fourth-generation graphene-based photovoltaic cells as an example. An extensive review of the world literature led us to the conclusion that, despite the appearance of newer types of photovoltaic cells, silicon cells still have the largest market share, and research into ways to improve their efficiency is still relevant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Materials)
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