Power and Energy Commons^™

Correlations Of Capacitance-Voltage Hysteresis With Thin-Film Cdte Solar Cell Performance During Accelerated Lifetime Testing, David S. Albin, Joseph A. Del Cueto

Publications (E)

In this paper we present the correlation of CdTe solar cell performance with capacitance-voltage hysteresis, defined presently as the difference in capacitance measured at zero-volt bias when collecting such data with different pre-measurement bias conditions. These correlations were obtained on CdTe cells stressed under conditions of 1-sun illumination, open-circuit bias, and an acceleration temperature of approximately 100 ºC.

Effect Of Hysteresis On Measurements Of Thin-Film Cell Performance, David S. Albin, Joseph A. Del Cueto

Publications (E)

Transient or hysteresis effects in polycrystalline thin film CdS/CdTe cells are a function of pre-measurement voltage bias and whether Cu is introduced as an intentional dopant during back contact fabrication. When Cu is added, the current-density (J) vs. voltage (V) measurements performed in a reverse-to-forward voltage direction will yield higher open-circuit voltage (V_oc), up to 10 mV, and smaller short-circuit current density (J_sc), by up to 2 mA/cm², relative to scanning voltage in a forward-to-reverse direction. The variation at the maximum power point, Pmax, is however small. The resulting variation in FF can be …

Use Of 2nd And 3rd Level Correlation Analysis For Studying Degradation In Polycrystalline Thin-Film Solar Cells, David S. Albin, Joseph A. Del Cueto, S. H. Demtsu, S. Bansal

Publications (E)

The correlation of stress-induced changes in the performance of laboratory-made CdTe solar cells with various 2^nd and 3^rd level metrics is discussed. The overall behavior of aggregated data showing how cell efficiency changes as a function of open-circuit voltage (V_oc), shortcircuit current density (J_sc), and fill factor (FF) is explained using a two-diode, PSpice model in which degradation is simulated by systematically changing model parameters. FF shows the highest correlation with performance during stress, and is subsequently shown to be most affected by shunt resistance, recombination and in some cases voltage-dependent collection. Large decreases …

High Efficiency, Low Cost Solar Cells Manufactured Using ‘Silicon Ink’ On Thin Crystalline Silicon Wafers October 2009 - November 2010, Homer Antoniadis

Publications (E)

The objectives of Phase I (Feb – Oct 2009) include the development and demonstration of a 17% efficient 25mm x 25mm crystalline Silicon solar cell and a 16% efficient 125mm x 125mm crystalline Silicon solar cell, both produced by Ink-jet printing Silicon Ink on a thin crystalline Sil-icon wafer. To achieve these objectives, processing approaches were developed to print the Silicon Ink in a predetermined pattern to form a high efficiency selective emitter, remove the solvents in the Silicon Ink and fuse the deposited particle Silicon films. Additionally, standard solar cell manufacturing equipment with slightly modified processes were used to …

Hybrid Cooling Systems For Low-Temperature Geothermal Power Production, Andrea Ashwood, Desikan Bharathan

Publications (E)

The overall objective of this investigation is to identify and evaluate methods by which the net power output of an air-cooled geothermal power plant can be enhanced during hot ambient conditions using minimal amounts of water.

Geothermal power plants that use air-cooled heat rejection systems experience a decrease in power production during hot periods of the day. This decrease in power output typically coincides with the time when utilities need power to address high air conditioning loads. Hybrid cooling options, which use both air and water, have been studied for this report to assess how they might mitigate the net …

"Buried-Anode" Technology Leads To Advanced Lithium Batteries, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publications (E)

A technology developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has sparked a start-up company that has attracted funding from the Advanced Projects Research Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Planar Energy, Inc. has licensed NREL's "buried-anode" technology and put it to work in solid-state lithium batteries. The company claims its large-format batteries can achieve triple the performance of today's lithium-ion batteries at half the cost, and if so, they could provide a significant boost to the emerging market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.