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Selected Works

Joshua M. Pearce

Selected Works

Amorphous silicon

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The Effect Of Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Device Operating Conditions On Intrinsic Layer Thickness Optimization Of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells, M. Pathak, K. Girotra, S. J. Harrison, Joshua M. Pearce Oct 2015

The Effect Of Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Device Operating Conditions On Intrinsic Layer Thickness Optimization Of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells, M. Pathak, K. Girotra, S. J. Harrison, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Historically, the design of hybrid solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems has focused on cooling crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based photovoltaic (PV) devices to avoid temperature-related losses. This approach neglects the associated performance losses in the thermal system and leads to a decrease in the overall exergy of the system. Consequently, this paper explores the use of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) as an absorber material for PVT in an effort to maintain higher and more favorable operating temperatures for the thermal system. Amorphous silicon not only has a smaller temperature coefficient than c-Si, but also can display improved PV performance over extended periods …


Optimization Of Annealing Cycles For Electric Output In Outdoor Conditions For Amorphous Silicon Photovoltaic - Thermal Systems, Joseph Rozario, Joshua M. Pearce Oct 2015

Optimization Of Annealing Cycles For Electric Output In Outdoor Conditions For Amorphous Silicon Photovoltaic - Thermal Systems, Joseph Rozario, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Previous studies with fixed operating temperatures have shown that hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) was a promising absorber layer for solar photovoltaic–thermal (PVT) systems because of (a) a low temperature coefficient and (b) the opportunity to reverse light induced degradation with thermal annealing. This study further refined the simulation of the optimal dispatch strategy for a-Si:H based PVT by studying annealing cycles and analysis of the degradation at other operating temperatures controlled by the varying ambient temperatures. Four representative case studies were evaluated for the combinations of high and low solar flux and high and low average ambient temperature. Electrically-optimized dispatch …


The Effect Of Spectral Albedo On Amorphous Silicon And Crystalline Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Device Performance, Rob W. Andrews, Joshua M. Pearce Oct 2015

The Effect Of Spectral Albedo On Amorphous Silicon And Crystalline Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Device Performance, Rob W. Andrews, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

In this paper the theory of mismatch factor of the terrestrial solar spectrum is extended to more accurately represent the irradiance available to specific types of photovoltaic (PV) materials from surface albedo. Using spectra derived from the SBDART radiative transfer model, the effects of a spectrally responsive albedo are illustrated by the differences between the spectrally weighted albedo of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based PV technology compared to traditional spectral-integrated albedo predictions. In order to quantify this effect for varying representative spectra, spectra for cloud optical thicknesses from 0-150 were investigated. Grass was found to be a …


Life Cycle Analysis Of Silane Recycling In Amorphous Silicon-Based Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing, M. A. Kreiger, D. R. Shonnard, Joshua M. Pearce Oct 2015

Life Cycle Analysis Of Silane Recycling In Amorphous Silicon-Based Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing, M. A. Kreiger, D. R. Shonnard, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)-based solar cells have the lowest ecological impact of photovoltaic (PV) materials. In order to continue to improve the environmental performance of PV manufacturing using proposed industrial symbiosis techniques, this paper performs a life cycle analysis (LCA) on both conventional 1-GW scaled a-Si:H-based single junction and a-Si:H/microcrystalline-Si:H tandem cell solar PV manufacturing plants and such plants coupled to silane recycling plants. Both the energy consumed and greenhouse gas emissions are tracked in the LCA, then silane gas is reused in the manufacturing process rather than standard waste combustion. Using a recycling process that results in a silane loss …