Xiaoqi Zhou , Man Zhang , Shengyu Sun, Yixin Sun, Zhongyan Li, Shipei Zhang, Xiawa Wang
{"title":"Spectrum-tailorable two-dimensional silicon–titanium nitride selective emitter by photon recycling for thermophotovoltaic applications","authors":"Xiaoqi Zhou , Man Zhang , Shengyu Sun, Yixin Sun, Zhongyan Li, Shipei Zhang, Xiawa Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have gained attention for their ability to convert radiant energy from heat sources into electricity. One major challenge is fabricating a spectrum-tailorable selective emitter with high performance at elevated temperatures. In this study, two-dimensional (2D) silicon-titanium nitride (Si–TiN) photonic crystals (PhCs) with TiN-coated Si cavities were fabricated using nanosphere lithography (NSL). The lossy nature and high reflectivity of TiN in the long-wavelength range allow the Si–TiN PhC to achieve up to <span><math><mo>∼</mo></math></span>92% broadband optical emissivity (200 nm – cut-off wavelength) while minimizing heat radiation to <span><math><mo>∼</mo></math></span>27% in the long-wavelength range (5 – 10<span><math><mrow><mspace></mspace><mi>μ</mi><mi>m</mi></mrow></math></span>). More importantly, thanks to the isotropy of the NSL method based on oxygen plasma etching (OPE), different periods and radius of the Si–TiN PhC can be achieved by controlling the OPE time or the initial polystyrene sphere diameter. This enables precise control over the cut-off wavelength and emission spectrum to match various PV cells. The 2D Si–TiN PhC produced 3.13 times more power than a flat Si emitter. This approach provides a promising path forward for enhancing TPV system performance and practical applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113560"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143631950","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}
Chengtao Yan , Dong Zhang , Luyuan Gong , Denghui Zhao , Zhuorui Li
{"title":"Synergistic optimization analysis of droplet cleaning efficiency on photovoltaic surfaces through volume regulation and dust removal dynamic mechanism","authors":"Chengtao Yan , Dong Zhang , Luyuan Gong , Denghui Zhao , Zhuorui Li","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113570","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113570","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dust accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) modules can result in significant energy losses. While conventional cleaning methods require amounts of water, the application of droplets cleaning technology on superhydrophobic surfaces offers a more sustainable solution. Our study presents an investigation into the optimization of droplet cleaning efficiency on superhydrophobic PV glass by regulating droplet volume. The study explored the dynamics of droplet motion and critical dust carrying capacity, introduced a quantitative relationship between droplet volume and dust removal efficiency, systematically analyzed droplet dynamics and dust entrainment mechanism, and revealed three findings: (1) The dust carrying motion of the droplet exhibits two distinct motion stages, from accelerated linear motion to trailing state triggered by saturated dust capacity (4.8 mg, 5.9 mg, and 6.2 mg for 10, 30, 50 μL droplets). (2) Post trailing velocity declines sharply by 84.90 %, 53.66 %, and 41.81 % for 10, 30, 50 μL droplets. (3) A linear volume efficiency relationship is established, where 50 μL droplets achieve 28 % dust removal efficiency (14 mg capacity), with each 1 μL volume increment enhancing mass removal by 0.28 mg and efficiency by 6.25 %. Our research optimizes the self-cleaning technology of photovoltaic module. Research results are expected to further improve the cleaning efficiency and water saving advantages of the droplet cleaning method, which is essential for the sustainability of solar systems, especially in water-scarce regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113570"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143642508","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}
Heya Na , Cancan Zhang , Yuting Wu , Guoqiang Wang , Guang Bao , Yuanwei Lu
{"title":"Thermal stability and corrosion characteristic analysis of low melting point ternary molten salt for thermal energy storage","authors":"Heya Na , Cancan Zhang , Yuting Wu , Guoqiang Wang , Guang Bao , Yuanwei Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113587","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113587","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Molten salt is used as an important heat transfer and storage medium in thermal energy storage application. Thermal stability as well as corrosion characteristic are important for system safe operation. In this paper, a low melting point ternary hybrid salt was prepared and subjected to 1000h of constant temperature experiments and 1000h of static corrosion experiments on 304 at a high temperature of 600 °C. The results show that the low melting point mixed salt has a melting point of 143.1 °C, an initial crystal point of 136.1 °C, a decomposition temperature of 666.8 °C, and an average specific heat and thermal conductivity of 1.45 J g<sup>−1</sup>k<sup>−1</sup> and 0.34 W m<sup>−1</sup>K<sup>−1</sup>. After a constant temperature of 1000 h at 600 °C, the melting point and initial crystal point have increased by 38 % and 49 %, the decomposition temperature has decreased by 8 %, and the specific heat and thermal conductivity have increased by 0.7 % and 0.3 %, respectively, compared with the base salt. 0.3 %. The weight loss per unit volume after 1000h of static corrosion was 6.2 mg cm<sup>−2</sup> and the annual corrosion rate was 0.068 mm y<sup>−1</sup>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113587"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143629148","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}
Tao Xu , Fuyu Qin , Jiaming Zhang , Zhidong Li , Shen Wei , Lingzhi Zhong , Yue Han , Ximin Lin , Junyi Wei , Yi Yang , Weitao Shao
{"title":"Development of CH3COONa·3H2O-Glycine-KCl composite phase change material for the swimming pool heating system","authors":"Tao Xu , Fuyu Qin , Jiaming Zhang , Zhidong Li , Shen Wei , Lingzhi Zhong , Yue Han , Ximin Lin , Junyi Wei , Yi Yang , Weitao Shao","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113574","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113574","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the improvement of modern living standards, the number of indoor and outdoor swimming pools has increased. However, the high energy consumption and heating costs in winter do not align with the requirements of green development. Therefore, in this study, a novel Composite Phase Change Material (CPCM) was developed to be integrated with a solar-air source heat pump swimming pool heating system. This system aims to provide longer heating durations and reduce temperature fluctuations, while also alleviating the pressure on national energy supply during peak energy consumption. Glycine (Gly) and potassium chloride (KCl) were combined with sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT) to prepare a shape-stabilized CPCM (SAT- Gly- KCl CPCM). It was integrated into a swimming pool heating system to justify the impact of the new material. Experimental results have demonstrated some major properties of this material, the melting point, latent heat value and supercooling degree were 40.3 °C, 274.4 J/g and 1.36 °C for the laboratory preparation, and 40.9 °C, 249.5 J/g and 1.42 °C for the large-scale preparation, respectively. The material also exhibited good stability and thermal reliability. When SAT-Gly-KCl CPCM was applied to a swimming pool heating system, it was found that 100 and 200 phase change thermal storage modules increased heating durations by 9.89 and 10.59 times, respectively, compared to the control group. Therefore, the SAT-Gly-KCl CPCM presents a promising solution for swimming pool heating systems. This study contributes to the further development and application of CPCMs in such systems, offering improved energy efficiency and stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113574"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143629152","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":"The photovoltaic Dyson sphere","authors":"Ian Marius Peters","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113589","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113589","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the concept of a photovoltaic Dyson sphere, a megastructure designed to capture and convert a star's energy for use in advanced technological applications. The temperature of a Dyson sphere composed of both blackbody and grey body materials is investigated. For efficient photovoltaic conversion, the semiconductor sphere must be coated with a black material to regulate temperature, ensuring it remains low enough for photovoltaic generation. The environmental impact on planetary conditions is also analyzed, revealing that only a Dyson sphere with an extension beyond Earth's orbit could allow life to persist on Earth while maintaining suitable temperatures for photovoltaic efficiency. Such a structure would still increase Earth’s temperature, necessitating planetary temperature control systems—an issue that parallels the challenges of mitigating global warming. Considering material availability in the solar system, it was found that a partial Dyson sphere at 2.13 AU, using 1.3 × 10<sup>23</sup> kg of silicon, could generate 4 % of the Sun’s power, yielding 15.6 YW of electricity while increasing temperature on Earth by less than 3K.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113589"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143629489","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}
Cheng Jin , Wenshuo Zhang , Jiahao Ni , Lanxin Li , Yong Hao , Gang Pei , Bin Zhao
{"title":"Multi-interface porous coating for efficient sub-ambient daytime radiative cooling","authors":"Cheng Jin , Wenshuo Zhang , Jiahao Ni , Lanxin Li , Yong Hao , Gang Pei , Bin Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Daytime radiative cooling can achieve a sub-ambient phenomenon passively, holding great promise for energy-saving applications. Polymer coating based on the Mie scattering effect has been widely developed for efficient daytime radiative cooling due to its scalable potential. However, current studies mainly concentrate on the properties of a single scattering interface, neglecting the potential synergistic effects among multiple scattering interfaces. Consequently, we develop a multi-interface porous radiative cooling coating (MIPRC coating) for efficient sub-ambient radiative cooling relying on the emulsion templating method. MIPRC coating consists of three kinds of interfaces with refractive index gradient for photon scattering, including air/polymer, SiO<sub>2</sub> particle/polymer, and air/SiO<sub>2</sub> particle, resulting in a high solar reflectivity of 97.6 % and an emissivity of 0.964 within the atmospheric window. In radiative cooling experiments, the MIPRC coating achieved a minimum temperature reduction of 5.0 °C below ambient during daytime, and a maximum temperature reduction of 16.0 °C below ambient at nighttime. The corresponding maximum radiative cooling power reached 61.0 W m<sup>−2</sup> during the day and 105.5 W m<sup>−2</sup> at night. When the MIPRC coating is applied to a foam roof and exposed to ambient air, a roof temperature of 1.2 °C below the ambient under an average solar irradiance of 900W·m<sup>−2</sup> is achieved. Building energy-saving measures within 25.8 %–84.6 % can be achieved by applying MIPRC coating in Haikou, Nairobi, Singapore, Miami, and Hawaii. This work provides an untapped perspective on designing highly efficient radiative cooling coatings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113577"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143629490","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}
Liang He , Yunfei Xu , Zuozuo Wu , Zhenchao Hong , Hongzhi Luo , Jianmin Li , Qi Lei , Xiaojuan Cheng , Fahui Wang , Shengquan Gan , Shuai Yuan
{"title":"Effects and mechanisms of argon flow rate on the quality of cast multicrystalline silicon","authors":"Liang He , Yunfei Xu , Zuozuo Wu , Zhenchao Hong , Hongzhi Luo , Jianmin Li , Qi Lei , Xiaojuan Cheng , Fahui Wang , Shengquan Gan , Shuai Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113572","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113572","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cast multicrystalline silicon is a well-established crystal growth technique, widely utilized not only as a direct material for photovoltaic cells but also as an effective method for purifying low-purity silicon feedstock. This study, based on a mature industrial process for small-grain cast multicrystalline silicon, examines the impact of varying argon flow rates on material quality. Increasing the argon flow rate enhances heat transfer, reducing crystal growth time, and strengthens melt convection, which mitigates residual stress. Consequently, this reduces the concentration of detrimental defects, extends carrier recombination lifetime, and improves purification efficiency. Furthermore, a higher argon flow rate effectively lowers interstitial oxygen content in the cast silicon. However, excessively high flow rates may compromise the crucible coating, introducing additional contaminants and inclusions into the crystal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113572"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143620832","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}
Pradeep Padhamnath , Srinath Nalluri , Filip Kuśmierczyk , Mateusz Kopyściański , Joanna Karbowniczek , Tomasz Kozieł , Shin Woei Leow , Thomas Reindl
{"title":"Development of PV panel recycling process enabling complete recyclability of end-of-life silicon photovoltaic panels","authors":"Pradeep Padhamnath , Srinath Nalluri , Filip Kuśmierczyk , Mateusz Kopyściański , Joanna Karbowniczek , Tomasz Kozieł , Shin Woei Leow , Thomas Reindl","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113571","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113571","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The cumulative PV panel waste is expected to reach ≈8 million tonnes by 2030 and ≈ 80 million tonnes by 2050. This presents an opportunity to pursue new avenues in terms of recycling and improving the circularity of the PV panels. In this work we present experimental results for recycling c-Si PV panels using recently developed electrohydraulic shock-wave fragmentation (EHF) of PV panels. The EHF process allows for the recovery of all materials used in the manufacturing of PV panels. We use different types of panels for the recycling process and analyse the material recoverability in each condition. Further, we analyse the effectiveness of chemical treatment in isolating metals from the silicon obtained from recycled c-Si PV panels, providing an opportunity of recovering high quality metal and silicon. The separation process allows for the high-quality material recovery and could potentially improve the economic feasibility of the overall recycling process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113571"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143620833","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":"Large-scale SiO2 particle integrated superhydrophobic thermal insulating hollow nanofiber film for daytime passive radiative cooling","authors":"Lu Wang , Junwei Fu , Zhenzhen Sun , Boyuan Cai","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) is a sustainable technology for cooling objects without consuming additional energy by reflecting sunlight and radiating heat to cold outer space. However, many PDRC devices proposed in recent years are complex and costly with the cooling performance degraded due to the surface contamination and heat conduction with the outdoor air, limiting their practical applications. Here, a cooling film consisting of poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF-HFP) hollow nanofibers with surface adhered by SiO<sub>2</sub> particles is fabricated by a combination of high temperature electrospinning and spraying technology, which can achieve triple functions of PDRC, self-cleaning and thermal insulation. The P(VDF-HFP)/SiO<sub>2</sub> thermal insulating hollow nanofiber cooler (TIH-P(VDF-HFP)/SiO<sub>2</sub>) has an average mid-infrared emissivity of 98.2 % (8–13 μm) and reflects 98.9 % of solar irradiance due to the vibration bonds of C−H and C−F molecular chains in P(VDF-HFP) nanofibers and the particle-nanofiber structure scattering. Besides, the TIH-P(VDF-HFP)/SiO<sub>2</sub> cooler exhibits the thermal conductivity of 0.019 W m<sup>−1</sup> K<sup>−1</sup> (lower than air) and a high static water contact angle (145°), which can reduce the environmental heat gain and possess self-cleaning performance, ensuring the stability and durability of the cooler. In practical applications, our cooler maintains an average temperature drop of 14 °C for the wood house model under direct sunlight even after the mud water contamination. This work provides a feasible way for fabricating thermal insulating PRDC materials and has the potential for a wide range of energy-saving and emission reduction applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113567"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143611447","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}
Joko Waluyo , Robertus Dhimas Dhewangga Putra , Dwi Chandra Adhitya , Reza Abdu Rahman
{"title":"Parametric operational analysis of hybrid thermo-electric/fluid-active thermal storage for domestic water heating system","authors":"Joko Waluyo , Robertus Dhimas Dhewangga Putra , Dwi Chandra Adhitya , Reza Abdu Rahman","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113575","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113575","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heat storage is the heart of solar-based water heaters, making the development of this technology extremely important to improve the operational aspect of domestic water heaters. The present work proposes a new system configuration by utilizing hybrid thermo-electric to charge the heat storage material. The assessment is conducted in detail by comparing the typical arrangement of the system, which uses fluid-active operation. Moreover, high melting temperatures and the vast availability of storage material are employed to offer reliable results from this work for actual application. Key finding on the storage operation assessment shows the hybrid thermo-electric offers high charging efficiency, which ranges between 60.3 and 74.3 %, while fluid-active operation has maximum value of 33.9 %. The energy transfer rate becomes higher as the material is directly in contact with the heat source for hybrid thermo-electric operation, resulting in an excellent charge rating, particularly for high thermal capacity storage material. The finding shows that the technical limitation of using high melting temperature and thermal capacity material is solved by introducing a hybrid thermo-electric configuration. Also, the proposed model achieves a high system efficiency around 31–57 %. The manuscript also provides a technical comparison between the two systems, showing that hybrid thermo-electric is more favorable in terms of storage density and control process. Moreover, it reduces the number of components in the system and prevents complex installation. Overall, hybrid thermo-electric operation might be considered as cost-effective approach to maximizing the operation of domestic water heaters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113575"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143611449","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}