Xuehui Gu , Na Wang , Liping Zhang , Jian Yu , Ning Tang , Xiaohua Xu , Su Zhou , Anjun Han , Jianhua Shi , Junlin Du , Guangyuan Wang , Wenjie Zhao , Fanying Meng , Zhengxin Liu , Wenzhu Liu
{"title":"Comprehensive consideration of light soaking improvement for silicon heterojunction solar cells","authors":"Xuehui Gu , Na Wang , Liping Zhang , Jian Yu , Ning Tang , Xiaohua Xu , Su Zhou , Anjun Han , Jianhua Shi , Junlin Du , Guangyuan Wang , Wenjie Zhao , Fanying Meng , Zhengxin Liu , Wenzhu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113421","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113421","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Monocrystalline/Amorphous silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells exhibit improved power conversion efficiency (<em>PCE</em>) by virtue of light soaking (LS), because photons activate effective doping of B/P atoms by promoting the movement of metastable H atoms in the amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) network. In this article, a comprehensive consideration of irradiation intensity, temperature and time duration on the LS enhancement are further investigated. We propose the necessity of thermal assistance for LS, it not only provides more phonon-assisted movement of weak bonding H, but also reduces the disorder and defect density of a-Si:H films via decreasing the weakly bonded H concentration and changing the Si-H bond configuration. Thermally-assisted light soaking also improves the electrical property and field passivation property of doped a-Si:H and strengthens a-Si:H/c-Si heterogeneous interfaces. However, very high temperature or persistent heating decreases cell performance caused by degradation of chemical passivation. In our experiment, the optimal gain of <em>PCE</em> of 0.33%<sub>abs</sub> is obtained through a brief LS at 7000 W/m<sup>2</sup> irradiation intensity under 135 °C for 60 s.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113421"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Suqin Zhang , Qingyuan Liu , Ting Chen , Zheng Liu , Guohua Liu
{"title":"Solar thermoplasmonic convection for sustainable removal of microplastics","authors":"Suqin Zhang , Qingyuan Liu , Ting Chen , Zheng Liu , Guohua Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113416","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113416","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vast quantities of plastic waste are deposited into marine environments annually, posing significant risks to aquatic organisms and biodiversity. This paper proposes a novel concept for the removal of microplastics from aquatic systems using solar thermoplasmonic convection. This method uses plano-convex lens to concentrate sunlight into an intense beam at a focal point. Alignment of this beam with the oscillation frequency of free electrons in a gold nanocone array induces surface plasmon resonance, which enhances the local electric field, catalyzes hot electron production, and producing intense heating to create a localized hotspot. The hotspot temperature reaches 353 K upon one sun flux. This hotspot induces large-scale thermal convections within the fluid, with a maximum velocity of 2.97 mm/s, efficiently drawing dispersed microplastics toward these thermal traps. Experimental results reveal that microplastics could coalesce into larger aggregates at the hotspot within about 120 s, even for microparticles as large size as 50 μm. Both the experiment and numerical analysis support that the convection current is crucial in the aggregation process. Pool and flow-through reactors with hotspot arrays are further explored for practical applicability. It was found that the optimizing reactor design and the spatial arrangement of hotspots can improve the collection efficiency. This study suggests a valuable method for microplastic remediation in aquatic settings, providing new insights into the multiphase flow dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113416"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143140823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Investigation on the efficiency of evacuated tube collector with heat pipe in different configurations of internal fin mounting","authors":"Piotr Olczak , Jan Porzuczek , Małgorzata Olek","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113391","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113391","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Evacuated tube collectors with heat pipes (ETCHP) can be used for both standard and high-temperature applications. In both cases, efficiency is crucial. Therefore, a study on the heat transport efficiency of ETCHP with various internal fin configurations was conducted. The research combined computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental measurements to analyze the effectiveness of solar energy absorption. A solar research station with two solar tubes arranged in series was developed for the study. The CFD simulations, conducted using Ansys Fluent software, modeled the heat flow and temperature distribution within the solar tubes. The simulations considered various parameters, including thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficients, to investigate their impact on heat absorption efficiency.</div><div>During standard installation of these solar tubes, there is no specific information regarding the orientation of the internal fin relative to the sun., However, tests indicate that the temperature difference between favorable and unfavorable fin orientation can exceed 10 K (for outside temperature 20–25 °C and solar radiation intensity more than 900 W/m<sup>2</sup>). Additionally, the efficiency difference is approximately 2 percentage points, representing around 10 % of the potential total heat losses in ETCHP.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113391"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influences of surface contaminating elements on potential-induced degradation of crystalline silicon solar cells","authors":"Yiming Qin , Asahi Yonemoto , Marwan Dhamrin , Keisuke Ohdaira , Kazuhiro Gotoh , Atsushi Masuda","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113413","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113413","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Effects of alkali metal on the potential-induced degradation (PID) phenomena in wafer-based conventional p-type crystalline silicon technologies were studied. It is known that sodium rapidly and severely brings the shunting-type PID (PID-s) phenomenon; however, the impact of other alkali metal such as lithium and potassium on the PID-s phenomenon is unrevealed. We used solar cells that light-receiving surface was contaminated with lithium, sodium or potassium, and in order to control the sodium content, prepared were photovoltaic modules without cover glass and performed were PID tests and anneal tests. During the tests, the performance of each module was judged by the current-voltage measurements and the electroluminescence images. After a certain time of PID tests, the secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis was performed on the solar cells of some modules. Thus, the penetration status of alkali metal elements is judged. From the PID tests and anneal tests, we conclude that, the negative potential of the solar cell light-receiving surface is the basis of the PID-s phenomenon. Furthermore, in the PID tests, all elements penetrated into the solar cell, but only sodium rapidly causes severe PID-s phenomenon. The PID-s phenomenon appears to be moderated when both lithium and sodium are present on the solar cell light-receiving surface. Therefore, we believe that lithium and potassium do not cause PID-s phenomenon, and lithium seems to mitigate the sodium-induced PID-s phenomenon.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113413"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jie Li , Xiaoying Zhou , Jinbing Zhang , Huyixiong Huang , Yongxian Rao , Qi Lei , Dongli Hu , Xusheng Wang , Shuai Yuan , Deren Yang
{"title":"Removal of hydrogen impurities from granular polysilicon via microwave heating for Czochralski monocrystalline silicon","authors":"Jie Li , Xiaoying Zhou , Jinbing Zhang , Huyixiong Huang , Yongxian Rao , Qi Lei , Dongli Hu , Xusheng Wang , Shuai Yuan , Deren Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113414","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113414","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Granular polysilicon produced by the fluidized bed method has become a competitive material in the photovoltaic industry due to its cost efficiency and compatibility with continuous Czochralski (CCZ) processes. However, its high hydrogen impurity content poses challenges during monocrystalline silicon growth, leading to undesirable phenomena such as \"hydrogen jump.\" This study investigates the removal of hydrogen impurities in granular polysilicon using microwave heating as an innovative and energy-efficient method. The effects of heating rate, temperature, and holding time on hydrogen impurity removal were systematically explored and compared to traditional resistance heating. The results reveal that microwave heating significantly enhances hydrogen impurity removal through its unique heating characteristics, facilitating the desorption and migration of hydrogen impurities via microcrack formation. Optimal parameters for impurity removal were determined, providing a promising pathway for improving the quality of granular polysilicon for monocrystalline silicon production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113414"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experimental evaluation of vortex generators for enhancing solar photovoltaic panel performance with parabolic reflectors","authors":"M. Sheikholeslami , F.A.M. Abd Ali","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113411","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113411","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents an experimental investigation into the impact of vortex generators (VGs) on the productivity of a CPVT (concentrated photovoltaic thermal) system. The CPVT system was tested using a single-axis solar tracking mechanism and a parabolic solar collector that concentrated solar radiation onto a photovoltaic thermal (PVT) module. The cooling system utilized water, and two different geometries—one without VGs and one with VGs—were tested across various flow rates to assess their influence on system performance. The CPVT system consisted of eight monocrystalline solar modules interconnected in parallel to maximize energy collection. The experiments were conducted in Najaf, Iraq, on July 27, 28, 30, 31, and August 2, 2023. Data collection was carried out at 20-min intervals from 10:20 to 14:00 on each test day. Environmental conditions were carefully monitored and recorded using precise measurement instruments. Key performance indicators, such as electrical and thermal efficiencies, were analyzed at various times throughout the day. The results revealed that enhancing the cooling of the solar cells significantly improved their power production capabilities and longevity. Given Iraq's hot climate, where temperatures can reach extreme levels, effective cooling is crucial to prevent long-term damage to the solar cells. The study found that increasing the coolant flow rate led to a significant improvement in thermal efficiency, with an average enhancement of 22.07 %. The introduction of VGs resulted in substantial gains, with average thermal efficiency increasing by 15 % and electrical efficiency by 23 %. The overall efficiencies of the CPVT systems were recorded as 64.31 % without VGs and 74.81 % with VGs, highlighting a marked improvement in performance due to the incorporation of VGs. This study emphasizes the critical role of effective thermal management in CPVT systems, particularly in hot climates, where the risk of thermal degradation is high.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113411"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yida Pan , Di Yan , Zhongshu Yang , Di Kang , Sergey Rubanov , Jiali Wang , Peiting Zheng , Jie Yang , Xinyu Zhang , James Bullock
{"title":"Ex-situ doping of polysilicon hole contacts for silicon solar cells via electron-beam boron evaporation","authors":"Yida Pan , Di Yan , Zhongshu Yang , Di Kang , Sergey Rubanov , Jiali Wang , Peiting Zheng , Jie Yang , Xinyu Zhang , James Bullock","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113387","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113387","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, a novel method for doping of p<sup>+</sup> polysilicon (poly-Si)/SiO<sub>x</sub> passivated contacts is demonstrated. This is achieved by using a thin (∼3 nm) boron layer, deposited by electron beam evaporation, as a dopant source on top of an intrinsic poly-Si layer, which allows diffusion of boron into the structure at temperatures above 900 °C. Surface passivation, exemplified by the implied open circuit voltage (<em>iV</em><sub>oc</sub>), and contact resistance, represented by the specific contact resistivity (<em>ρ</em><sub>c</sub>), were studied as a function of activation parameters including the drive-in temperature/time. By optimising the activation condition, doping layer thickness, and hydrogenation process, an <em>iV</em><sub>oc</sub> of 709 mV and a <em>ρ</em><sub>c</sub> of 3.2 mΩcm<sup>2</sup> is achieved for a 180 nm poly-Si film. This technique was also demonstrated to allow simple patterning of p<sup>+</sup> poly-Si regions via use of a shadow mask during the boron deposition process. These results highlight an alternative way to form patterned region doping for high performance p<sup>+</sup> poly-Si/SiO<sub>x</sub> passivated contacts, allowing advanced silicon solar cell architectures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113387"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiawang Qiu , Ying Zhang , Zhongguo Zhou , Xi Lin , Xiaomin Song , Sihua Zhong , Haipeng Yin , Xiulin Jiang , Junbing Zhang , Zi Ouyang , Wenzhong Shen , Zengguang Huang
{"title":"Low-temperature ZnOx (ALD)/SiO2 (spin-coating) dopant-free electron-selective contact enabling 22.11%-efficiency Si solar cell","authors":"Jiawang Qiu , Ying Zhang , Zhongguo Zhou , Xi Lin , Xiaomin Song , Sihua Zhong , Haipeng Yin , Xiulin Jiang , Junbing Zhang , Zi Ouyang , Wenzhong Shen , Zengguang Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113403","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113403","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to develop new electron-selective (ES) materials for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells aimed at simplifying the processes and improving efficiencies. By combing the low-temperature spin-coating SiO<sub>2</sub> with the atomic layer deposition (ALD) ZnO<sub>x</sub>, we in this work prepared the dopant-free ES contact of ALD-ZnO<sub>x</sub>/Spin-coating SiO<sub>2</sub>/LiF/Al and applied it to n-type c-Si solar cells as a full-area rear contact. It is found that the optimal ZnO<sub>x</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>/LiF/Al sample with the 10 cycles-thickness ZnO<sub>x</sub>, has the lowest contact resistivity (<em>ρ</em><sub><em>c</em></sub>) of 0.857 mΩ cm<sup>2</sup> and the high minority carrier lifetime (<em>τ</em><sub><em>eff</em></sub>) of 319.43 μs, indicating the simultaneous achievement of the excellent contact performance and surface passivation. It is verified that the spin-coating SiO<sub>2</sub> layer can boost the surface passivation level while maintaining the low <em>ρ</em><sub><em>c</em></sub> due to the pinhole-like carrier transport mechanism in spin-coating SiO<sub>2</sub>. Finally, the champion efficiency of 22.11 % was achieved in the n-type c-Si solar cell with full-area rear ZnO<sub>x</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>/LiF/Al ES dopant-free contact. This represents the best performance for ZnO<sub>x</sub>-based dopant-free c-Si solar cells, displaying a bright prospect of this ES contact in the low-temperature and high-efficiency Si heterojunction and Si/Perovskite tandem solar cells.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113403"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Simon M.F. Zhang , Angus Gentle , Maryna Bilokur , Ning Song , Zhen Yang , Yajie Jiang , Hamish Teasdale , Raghavi Bhoopathy , Ivan Perez-Wurfl , Ziv Hameiri
{"title":"Temperature dependency of the optical properties of photovoltaic module component layers","authors":"Simon M.F. Zhang , Angus Gentle , Maryna Bilokur , Ning Song , Zhen Yang , Yajie Jiang , Hamish Teasdale , Raghavi Bhoopathy , Ivan Perez-Wurfl , Ziv Hameiri","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Photovoltaic module performance in the field is strongly dependent on the optical properties of its component layers and the temperature dependencies of these properties. However, despite their importance, the temperature dependencies of the optical properties of many photovoltaic module components appear to have not been characterised. Hence, the assumptions regarding their optical stabilities at various temperatures have not been verified. In this study, a temperature-dependent spectrophotometry method is developed to enable this verification. The temperature dependencies of the optical properties of silicon nitride, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), and backsheets are characterised, and their impacts on module operations are quantified via ray-tracing simulations. It is concluded that (1) silicon nitride anti-reflection coatings are optically stable between room temperature and 85 °C, and (2) several temperature dependencies exist at different wavelengths in both EVA and backsheets, however, they do not have a significant impact on the module operation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113389"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Analytical model for photocurrent density in linearly graded band gap Sb2Se3 solar cells","authors":"Ali Hajjiah","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113404","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113404","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study introduces a model to estimate the photocurrent density in Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> solar cells with a linearly graded band gap, adaptable for various grading profiles. The model incorporates both carrier generation and recombination processes, along with an effective absorption coefficient, to more accurately compute the photocurrent density. Our results show that band gap grading leads to higher photocurrent densities compared to non-graded cells, offering design flexibility for improved device performance. Specifically, the graded band gap reduces sensitivity to band-gap changes, allowing for enhanced built-in voltage and back surface field effects. We identify an optimal grading strength that maximizes photocurrent density, while excessive grading reduces absorption efficiency. Additionally, longer diffusion lengths contribute to higher photocurrent densities, though recombination in the depletion region has a more pronounced effect than in the absorber. These findings suggest that controlled band gap grading in Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> solar cells can significantly enhance their efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"282 ","pages":"Article 113404"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}