Presents the table of contents for this issue of the publication.

Presents a listing of the editorial board, board of governors, current staff, committee members, and/or society editors for this issue of the publication.

Flatbed screen printing is the dominating process in industry for metallization of silicon solar cells. It offers high throughput rates, high flexibility of printing pattern, and an overall very cost-effective production compared with other printing technologies. However, the ongoing demand for an optimization of printed silver electrode shape creates an increasing challenge to paste and screen development

In silicon heterojunction solar cells, optimization of the front transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer is required in order to minimize both electrical and optical losses. In this article, design guidelines for this overall power loss minimization are presented—extending previous TCO optimization work that was limited to the maximization of the short-circuit current density alone—and these are used

Passivating contacts created via a thin interfacial oxide and a highly doped polysilicon layer, e.g., the TOPCon technology, are on the verge of being implemented in solar cell mass production. Investment decisions rely on R&D to identify the most promising implementation option, meaning a trustworthy roadmap based on predicted performance gains. This article shows how to thoroughly quantify the performance

Minimizing transport losses in novel solar cell concepts is often linked to improvements at the transparent conductive oxide (TCO)/doped silicon contact. A detailed understanding of the determining factors for an efficient transport at this heterojunction is essential, such as work function matching and efficient tunneling transport. In this article, we analyze the different TCO contact parameters

Front surface texturization is a standard procedure used to improve optical properties of photovoltaic devices. In some particular cases, such as when dealing with ultrathin substrates, common texturization techniques can become unpractical or even unfeasible. Texturized polymer films applied on top of such devices may be used as an alternative. In this article, we report on the development of textured

To address three-terminal tandem solar cells composed of a back-contact-type Si bottom cell, which, in principle, has a tolerance against spectral variation, we fabricate the three-terminal GaAs/Si tandem device bonded using conductive metal nanoparticle arrays and measure the power extraction. A power equivalent to the sum of the power generated by the top and bottom subcells is extracted even under

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell device structures use carrier-selective contacts that enable efficient collection of majority carriers while impeding the collection of minority carriers. However, these contacts can also be a source of resistive losses that degrade the performance of the solar cell. In this article, we evaluate the performance of the carrier-selective hole contact—hydrogenated

In this article, we develop in parallel two fabrication methods for copper (Cu) electroplated contacts suitable for either silicon nitride or transparent conductive oxide antireflective coatings. We employ alternative seed layers, such as evaporated Ag or Ti, and optimize the Ti–Cu or Ag–Cu contacts with respect to uniformity of plating and aspect ratio of the final plated grid. Moreover, we test plating/deplating

In this article, high-efficiency n-Si interdigitated back contact solar cells (IBC) were fabricated with the perc-like process. The cell was demonstrated with the efficiency of 22.16% (cell area = 10 × 10 cm), open-circuit voltage of 685 mV, short-circuit current density of 41.21 mA/cm 2 , and fill factor of 78.48%. The low fill factor can be attributed to the high base recombination taking place under

This article introduces a postmetallization “passivated edge technology” (PET) treatment for separated silicon solar cells consisting of aluminum oxide deposition with subsequent annealing. We present our work on bifacial shingle solar cells that are based on the passivated emitter and rear cell concept. To separate the shingle devices after metallization and firing, we use either a conventional laser

In this article, we explore magnesium oxide (MgO) as electron-selective contact layer in silicon heterojunction solar cells. We report on the successful deposition of MgO layers by atomic layer deposition at low temperatures ≤200 °C using bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)magnesium (Mg(CpEt) 2 ) and H 2 O as precursors. Depositions were carried out on bare crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers and c-Si wafers

This article investigates metallization-induced recombination losses associated with the presence of silicon (Si) in the 1) rear passivation layers and 2) aluminum (Al) paste in fully screen-printed p -type passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cells. For 1), the rear sides of PERCs passivated with aluminum oxide films stacked with silicon nitride (SiN y ) films with various refractive indexes

The rapid rise in single-junction perovskite solar cell (PSC) efficiencies, tunable bandgap, and low-cost solution processability make PSCs an attractive candidate for tandems with Si bottom cells. However, the challenge is to fabricate a high-performance semitransparent perovskite top cell in combination with an appropriate silicon bottom cell with high response to long wavelength photons that are

Degradation and regeneration of recombination parameters can occur in the bulk and at the surfaces of silicon solar cells. This article focuses on the time-resolved analysis of the recombination properties of textured 1.7 Ω cm boron-doped p -type Cz-Si and 5 Ω cm phosphorus-doped n -type Cz-Si wafers, where the surfaces are passivated by n + poly-Si on interfacial oxide layers exposed to a rapid thermal

Crystalline solar cells have attracted significant attention in the solar-cell market owing to their low material cost. Multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) is usually fabricated using the casting method, and approximately 35% of Si is removed as kerf in the sawing process performed to fabricate the wafer. The fabrication of kerfless mc-Si wafers does not involve the sawing and growing process. Hence,

We evaluate a procedure that is meant to ensure a highly accurate alignment between laser-doped lines and either screen-printed metal contacts or laser contact openings (LCO) for subsequent galvanic plating of the metal contacts. For both process routes, we prove that the application of the procedure significantly increases the alignment accuracy, discusses potential error sources, and identifies the

In this article, the impact of postplating annealing on the regenerated state of boron-doped p-type passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cells with plated Ni/Cu/Ag front-side contacts is characterized. The assessment of different plating annealing profiles in the temperature range of 200–300 °C and their impact on light-induced degradation as well as on additional defects are realized by lifetime

This article investigates the influence of crystallographic defects on the temperature sensitivity of multicrystalline silicon wafers. The thermal characteristics of the implied open-circuit voltage is assessed since it determines most of the total temperature sensitivity of the material. Spatially resolved temperature-dependent analysis is performed on wafers from various brick positions; intragrain

Effect of the band alignment on the performance of heterojunction p-i-n solar cell is investigated in the framework of one-dimensional transport model. An affinity-based approach is introduced in order to identify a set of material parameters and doping levels which would result in lower series resistance $R_s$ , higher open-circuit voltage $V_{{\rm oc}}$ , and higher fill factor $FF$ . The search

Intermediate band (IB) solar cells hold the promise of efficiency as high as triple-junction solar cells with much simpler cell design, containing only two semiconductor material interfaces. Although several IB materials have been demonstrated, no cells have shown promising efficiencies. Many of the fundamental required properties of IB materials are well known; they need strong subgap absorption,

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are promising structures with excellent photovoltaic properties for low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells and have the potential to overcome the limits of bulk silicon solar cells. There is still a need to enhance light absorption in SiNWs without increasing the surface area. Here, we introduce a novel design, hourglass-shaped silicon nanowire (HG-SiNW) to significantly increase

Impacts of reactor pressure and growth temperature on the qualities and properties of InGaP epitaxial layers grown in a narrow-channel horizontal metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) reactor were investigated with a growth rate of 10 μm/h. The roughness of InGaP was improved remarkably when the pressure was increased from 6 to 10 and 15 kPa. The reason is most likely related to the absolute pressure

Mitigating series resistance is crucial to the efficiency of concentrator solar cells at high current density. Conventional AlGaInP junction designs for the top junction of III–V multijunction cells present a challenging tradeoff between series resistance on the one hand and current collection and voltage on the other hand. In this article we discuss the physics of a reverse heterojunction solar cell

The highest solar cell efficiencies today are reached with four-junction devices under concentrated illumination. The optimal bandgap combination for realistic four-junction cells is modelled to be 1.89/1.42/1.05/0.68 eV and indeed promises for efficiencies >50%. We present the development and analysis of a wafer-bonded four-junction solar cell based on GaInP/GaAs/GaInAs//GaInAsSb. This concept allows

Radiation hard thin-film solar cell technologies are necessary in order to achieve a step forward in the specific power of solar arrays for space applications. In this article, we analyze the degradation of nanowire (NW) solar cells under high energy particles. GaAs NW solar cells have been irradiated with protons of 100 and 350 keV at different fluences. The radiation hardness of the NW solar cells

Photon capturing is an essential step for the operation of a solar cell. In this article, we develop a bifacial solar cell with characteristics of double-side photon collection, transparent appearance, mechanical flexibility, and facile processing. The whole device was fully fabricated by a spin-coating technique. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 2.46% has been achieved using the most

In this article, the impact of surface recombination on the J–V characteristics of organic solar cells (OSC) was analyzed. The investigation was carried out using the drift-diffusion model in which the surface recombination of holes and electrons on both electrodes, anode and cathode, were taken into account through boundary conditions. In order to perceive the individual influence of the surface recombination

Tunability is considered one of the main advantages of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) over conventional Si-based solar cells. In DSSCs, the thickness of the active layer can tune the transparency of the cell. This, however, creates a tradeoff between the transparency and the cell's efficiency. DSSCs with tailored transparency would be capable of being utilized in photovoltaic window applications

Exploring the underwater solar energy by solar photovoltaic (PV) cells leads to a huge advantage by utilizing the humongous space of water covered by the earth's surface. Even though the amount of solar radiation decreases with the depth of the water, water provides sustainable cooling and cleaning for solar PV cells underwater. There are many challenges and constraints to develop solar PV cells underwater

In this article, we present a detailed theoretical study to predict performance characteristics of single-junction indoor photovoltaic (PV) devices operated under white light emitting diodes (LEDs) having different spectral characteristics. Efficiency limits of both ideal and practical PV converters have been evaluated considering illumination by commercially available white LEDs. The obtained results

A novel unsupervised machine learning approach for analyzing time-series data is applied to the topic of photovoltaic system degradation rate estimation, sometimes referred to as energy-yield degradation analysis. This approach only requires a measured power signal as an input—no irradiance data, temperature data, or system configuration information are required. We present results on a dataset that

The extraction of the implied open-circuit voltage ( iV OC ) and saturation current density under the metal fingers ( j 0met ) using a single photoluminescence (PL) image is demonstrated in this article. The method employed to derive these parameters is based on an analytical modeling of the local p-n-junction voltage between the metallization fingers and on the analysis of the p-n-junction voltage

The analysis of performance degradation in photovoltaic (PV) modules with c-Si technologies as observed in the All-India Survey of PV Module Reliability 2018 is presented in this article. The degradation rates are correlated with the module age, system size, mounting configuration, and climate of deployment. Key failure modes responsible for the higher degradation rates seen in certain sites are identified

Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of photovoltaic modules are essential to ensure the efficient and reliable operation of large-scale photovoltaic plants. This article presents an algorithmic solution for the rapid and sensitive detection of photovoltaic modules with multiple visible defects by an image analyzing apparatus mounted onto an unmanned aerial vehicle. The proposed solution is composed

Dew accelerates the soiling rates and increases the dust adhesion. To use dew for self-cleaning, a fluorinated ethylene propylene coating was applied to suppress the reactions between dust and glass as well as to facilitate the dew to condense as mobile droplets. An array of rectangular hydrophilic channels in the coating increases the condensation rates and droplet slide-off diameters. The durability

In this article, we present a method to obtain implied open-circuit voltage images of silicon wafers and cells at different temperatures. The proposed method is then demonstrated by investigating the temperature coefficients of various regions across multicrystalline silicon wafers and cells from different heights of two bricks with different dislocation densities. Interestingly, both low and high

Due to high similarity interference of photovoltaic images, repetitive EL image detection and photovoltaic image stitching pose a great challenge. This article proposes two application algorithms and a registration method, which are repetitive EL image detection and photovoltaic image stitching based on the proposed AKAZE-LATCH+GMS registration method. Considering the existence of duplicate EL images

Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is the predominant encapsulant in crystalline-silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules; however, its degradation is a subject of major concern, which causes significant power loss under field conditions. This article presents a comparison of EVA degradation in field-aged PV modules with glass/backsheet (G/B) and glass/glass (G/G) architectures. Module-level characterization included

Since 2010, the ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF) method is used to identify defects in wafer-based crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules. We summarize all known applications of fluorescence imaging methods on PV modules to identify defects and characteristics. The aim of this review is to present the basic principles for the interpretation of UVF images. The method allows for detection of cell

Electroluminescence (EL) characterization technique is used to quantify recombination properties in back junction silicon (Si) heterojunction (HJ) solar cell test structures with interdigitated back contact (IBC) emitters and metal contacts. These test structures are three terminal devices that allow the selective biasing and injection of minority carriers into spatially isolated emitter strips having

Detecting fault in a solar photovoltaic (PV) array in the presence of protection diodes (bypass and reverse blocking) is complex. This is because variations in the electrical parameters (due to a fault) are often not distinguishable from one type of fault to another or from fault to partial shading. Depending on the fault condition, an open fault may appear like a short-circuit fault and a severe partial

The electricity produced by photovoltaic sources is mainly influenced by the solar irradiance and temperature of the cells. The literature presents methods to estimate these parameters through the measurements of open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of the array. However, in an actual photovoltaic system, changing the operating point of the module to short circuit or open circuit requires

This article investigates a hybrid control scheme to grant multiple functions to a grid-connected PV inverter. This strategy guarantees constant energy supply independently of the intermittent nature of solar energy. Further, it contributes to the mitigation of power-quality issues such as harmonic cancellation and power-factor correction. The control scheme comprises a current control loop based on

As photovoltaic systems grow in size, there has been an increasing desire to automate the detection of arc faults. Any automated system for arc detection must be as fast and accurate as possible: delayed detection of electrical arcs can lead to fire and considerable system damage, while false positives that cause preventative system shutdown are associated with a significant financial cost. In this

Thin-film solar modules based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology currently produce the world's lowest cost solar electricity. However, the best CdTe modules now contain a cadmium selenium telluride (CST) alloy at the front of the absorber layer. Despite this, research characterizing the behavior of selenium in alloyed CdTe devices is currently very limited. Here we employ advanced secondary ion

II–VI/Si tandem solar cells have strong potential for high efficiency at low cost by combining the two most widely used solar cell materials: silicon and cadmium telluride (CdTe). However, there are challenges with this merger, as loss of minority-carrier lifetime in the silicon bottom cell can be caused by growth of a II–VI cell on top. Silicon lifetime degradation in monolithic II–VI/Si structures

Solar cell degradation can occur through many pathways and at the different stages of the fabrication process, notably because of the water condensation. In the case of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) solar cells, the impact of water ingress on Mo back contact can be substantial for not only the film itself but also the device performance and reliability. Microstructural modification, change in film morphology

In this article, we report on the properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) deposited on thin-film silicon layers designed for the application as carrier selective contacts for silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. We find that ITO deposited on hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) layers presents a significant drop on electron mobility ${\mu} _{{\rm{e}}}$ in comparison to layers deposited

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