Photonics Spectra: thin-film solar cells This is the syndication feed for Photonics Spectra: thin-film solar cells. https://www.photonics.com/Splash.aspx?Tag=thin-film+solar+cells Thu, 28 Mar 2024 09:46:41 GMT Wed, 30 May 2018 14:59:46 GMT 1800 Patterned Photovoltaic Absorbers Harvest Sunlight Better
Recent reports forecast solar power will become the world’s cheapest form of energy within the decade. The dramatic decrease in the price of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules in recent years (now hovering around 31 cents per watt peak) has resulted from new advances in production — the price per module was scaled down by approximately 20 percent as production volume doubled.

On the performance side, there were continuous improvements in solar cell design. In particular, efficient light management solutions have been implemented to make better use of the incoming photons and to enhance the power conversion efficiency of PV devices. An example is surface texturing of wafer-based silicon solar cells, which results in an...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Patterned_Photovoltaic_Absorbers_Harvest_Sunlight/p5/a63494 A63494 Wed, 30 May 2018 14:59:46 GMT
Solar-Tectic Awarded Patent for III-V Thin Film Solar Cell Manufacturing
The patent, the first ever for a thin III-V layer on crystalline silicon thin-film, covers group III-V elements such as gallium arsenide and indium gallium phosphide for the top layer, as well as all inorganic materials including silicon, germanium and more for the bottom layer. Group III-V compounds are proven photovoltaic materials with high efficiencies but, until now, have been cost prohibitive due to expensive materials. The cost of substrates on which to grow III-V materials has previously kept the technology from market entry.

In this breakthrough technology,...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Solar-Tectic_Awarded_Patent_for_III-V_Thin_Film/p5/a62668 A62668 Tue, 24 Oct 2017 08:00:00 GMT
'Inverse Opal' Structure Enhances Solar Cell Efficiency
Photonic crystals with an "inverse opal" structure could increase the light-trapping capability of thin-film solar cells and help bring about lower-cost solar energy.

Researchers at Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering used the 3-D crystals to improve thin-film light absorption compared with conventional thin-film cells.

Illustrations (a) through (d) depict the creation of 3-D photonic crystals. The "inverse opal" structure is formed by treating the crystals with hydrofluoric acid (d). Scanning electron microscope images show the small-scale crystal structure from three different angles (e and g), and a photograph (h) shows how the same membrane can be wrapped...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Inverse_Opal_Structure_Enhances_Solar_Cell/p5/a55768 A55768 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT
Thin-Film Solar Cell Efficiency Exceeds 20 Percent
Thin-film solar cells on flexible polymer foils, based on copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS), have set an efficiency record of 20.4 percent for converting sunlight into electricity.

This is the fifth consecutive record for scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology, beating their May 2011 feat of 18.7 percent (See: Flexible Solar Cells Set Efficiency Record).

“We have now — finally — managed to close the ‘efficiency gap’ to solar cells based on polycrystalline silicon wafers or CIGS thin-film cells on glass,” said team leader Ayodhya N. Tiwari.

High-efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells on polyimide film developed at Empa using a novel...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Thin-Film_Solar_Cell_Efficiency_Exceeds_20_Percent/p5/a52889 A52889 Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT
Jenoptik Expands in Berlin, China
In other news, Jenoptik officially opened a 100 percent-owned subsidiary in China called Jenoptik (Shanghai) Precision Instruments and Equipment Co. Ltd. Three of the company’s five...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Jenoptik_Expands_in_Berlin_China/p5/a49940 A49940 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT
Ending on an Up Note
Users of these materials pushed back against the breathtaking upward pricing spiral by searching out replacements, using less and recycling more, among other means. These strategies, combined with new sources of supply and more effective controls on rare-earth mining and processing in China, have created what Roskill Information Services calls an industry “at a turning point.”

Prices started soaring in June...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Ending_on_an_Up_Note/p5/a49345 A49345 Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT
Jenoptik to Supply US with New Laser Processing System
High-tech glass is used for manufacturing smart windows that can be electronically adjusted to external lighting conditions, resulting in a significant reduction in energy consumption levels.

Similar to thin-film solar cells, high-tech glass consists of a number of extremely thin films, which are applied onto the glass. After each application, the films — only a few microns thin — are structured with high precision. A specially adapted technology is deployed for each structuring process.

Jenoptik has supplied the laser processing systems for thin-film...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Jenoptik_to_Supply_US_with_New_Laser_Processing/p5/a49262 A49262 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT
New Approaches Could Make Solar a Better Business
Advances in laser drilling, coatings and polygon scanner technology promise to speed up photovoltaic panel production – and drive down costs, too.
The closer you get to Germany by plane, the more the country seems to glitter. Shiny solar panels cluster on rooftops and installations in and around cities, and they crop up in more agricultural areas as well. Many of these solar collectors are used for water heating, but more and more, the systems are converting sunlight directly into electrical current.

Researchers from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, an international application-oriented research organization, were busy this summer preparing to present methods for improving solar cell efficiency and for driving down costs to attendees...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/New_Approaches_Could_Make_Solar_a_Better_Business/p5/a48835 A48835 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT
NSF, DoE Co-Fund Solar Tech Research Center
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have announced that they will fund an engineering research center (ERC) that will develop interdisciplinary research and education programs to address energy challenges, such as how to realize large-scale, sustainable, domestic energy sources. Over the next five years, they will invest $18.5 million in the center, which has been dubbed the NSF/DoE ERC for Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies (QESST).

The QESST ERC proposes to develop both the technologies and manufacturing processes to dramatically increase the amount of solar photovoltaic energy supplying the nation's homes and businesses. (Images: Arizona State University)
QESST, led by Arizona...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/NSF_DoE_Co-Fund_Solar_Tech_Research_Center/p5/a48096 A48096 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT
"Swiss Cheese" Solar Cells Use Less Silicon
A new design for thin-film solar cells that requires significantly less silicon — and may boost their efficiency — is the result of an industry and academia collaboration between Oerlikon Solar in Switzerland and the Institute of Physics' photovoltaics group at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

One long-term option for low-cost, high-yield industrial production of solar panels from abundant raw materials can be found in amorphous silicon solar cells and microcrystalline silicon tandem cells (micromorph), providing an energy payback within a year.

A drawback to these cells, however, is that the stable panel efficiency is less than the efficiency of currently dominant crystalline wafer-based silicon, said...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Swiss_Cheese_Solar_Cells_Use_Less_Silicon_/p5/a47226 A47226 Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT
Ultrafast laser scribes solar cells
A new manufacturing method using an ultrafast pulsing laser could make thin-film solar cell arrays a more efficient and less expensive means of power generation.

The current method of connecting solar panels into arrays that generate usable electricity involves mechanically scribing with a stylus, but this technique is less than ideal: Not only is it slow and expensive, but it also produces imperfect channels.

“The efficiency of solar cells depends largely on how accurate your scribing of microchannels is,” said Yung Shin, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue University’s Center for Laser-Based Manufacturing. “If they are made as accurately as possible, efficiency goes up.”
...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Ultrafast_laser_scribes_solar_cells/p5/a46860 A46860 Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT
Plasmonics to Yield Thinner, Cheaper Solar Cells
A multidisciplinary team of Stanford engineers led by Mike McGehee, Yi Cui and Mark Brongersma, and joined by Michael Graetzel at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) announced a new technology using plasmonics to more effectively trap light within thin solar cells to improve performance.

Waves of energy

"Plasmonics makes it much easier to improve the efficiency of solar cells," said McGehee, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford.

McGehee is the director of CAMP — the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics — a multidisciplinary, multi-university team tackling the challenges of thin-film solar cells.

"Using plasmonics we can absorb...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Plasmonics_to_Yield_Thinner_Cheaper_Solar_Cells_/p5/a45876 A45876 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT
3D-Micromac Wins SPIE Green Photonics Award
3D-Micromac AG, a laser micromachining systems supplier, was honored with the SPIE 2011 Green Photonics Award at Photonics West in January in San Francisco, it said.

Tino Petsch, CEO of the company, received the prize for the scientific publication, “Laser processing of organic solar cells in a roll-to-roll manufacturing process.”

A laser structured flexible organic solar cell. (Image: 3D-Micromac)
3D-Micromac develops and commercializes laser systems for processing wafer-based and thin-film solar cells. Since 2009, its engineers have engaged in laser processing of organic photovoltaic cells (OPV). Its goal is to develop and manufacture whole production lines for manufacturing of OPVs from the raw materials up to...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/3D-Micromac_Wins_SPIE_Green_Photonics_Award/p5/a45829 A45829 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT
Future Bright for Nanopillar Light Collectors
Sunlight represents the cleanest, greenest and far and away the most abundant of all energy sources, and yet its potential remains woefully underutilized. High costs have been a major deterrent to the large-scale applications of silicon-based solar cells.

Nanopillars — densely packed nanoscale arrays of optically active semiconductors — have shown potential for providing a next generation of relatively cheap and scalable solar cells but have been hampered by efficiency issues. The nanopillar story, however, has taken a new twist, and the future for these materials now looks brighter than ever.

“By tuning the shape and geometry of highly ordered nanopillar arrays of germanium or cadmium sulfide, we have been...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Future_Bright_for_Nanopillar_Light_Collectors_/p5/a45084 A45084 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT
A Foldable iPad?
Tiny copper nanowires are small enough to be transparent, making them ideal for thin-film solar cells, flat-screen TVs and computers, and flexible displays.

"Imagine a foldable iPad," said Benjamin Wiley, an assistant professor of chemistry at Duke University. His team of Duke University chemists reports its findings online this week in Advanced Materials.

Tiny copper wires can be built in bulk and then "printed" on a surface to conduct current, transparently. (Image: Benjamin Wiley, Duke Chemistry)
Nanowires made of copper perform better than carbon nanotubes, and are much cheaper than silver nanowires, Wiley said.

The latest flat-panel TVs and computer screens produce images by an array of electronic pixels connected...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/A_Foldable_iPad_/p5/a42500 A42500 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Thin Is In
Analysts predict that the future solar landscape will be painted with thin-film solar cells rather than the big, bulky aluminum-framed photovoltaic (PV) panels of yesterday. Thin is in for many reasons, not the least of which is that thin-film PV cells can be fabricated from materials other than solar-grade crystalline silicon (c-Si), which has been in short supply.

Amorphous silicon (a-Si) and silicon-free designs are the subjects of “Thin-Film Photovoltaics: 2008 and Beyond,” a July 2008 report from NanoMarkets, an industry analysis firm based in Glen Allen, Va. Today, a-Si is the largest segment of the thin-film market, but silicon-free designs that are garnering attention include copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), cadmium...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Thin_Is_In/p5/a35523 A35523 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Unidym, Nippon Kayaku to Collaborate https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Unidym_Nippon_Kayaku_to_Collaborate/p5/a33491 A33491 Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Ersol, Schott Forge Alliance https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Ersol_Schott_Forge_Alliance/p5/a33164 A33164 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Schott Solar, ersol Form Alliance https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Schott_Solar_ersol_Form_Alliance/p5/a32975 A32975 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Schott, Ersol Announce Thin-Film Alliance https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Schott_Ersol_Announce_Thin-Film_Alliance/p5/a32454 A32454 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT