Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.7
3.4
Journals
Coatings
Special Issues
Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications
share announcement

Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2018) | Viewed by 36127

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kenji Araki

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 889-2192 Miyazaki, Japan
Interests: automobile and transportation by renewable energy; solar energy; solar cell; CPV; standardization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The combination of PVs (photovoltaics) and coatings will be a key technology for sound sustainability. Recently, the game has been changing with new, colorful, and artistic PV panels using advanced coating technology. They are not exotic, but are vivid and comfortable. The recent development in EVs (Electric Vehicles) and PHVs (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles) have allowed automobile technology to open the door for solar-engined. When this happens, car-roof PVs should not be blue-black, but more colors are often seen in the motor vehicle body. Please consider submitting your work to this Special Issue. The topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Color and appearance control of solar panels;
  • Production issues of coated PV (photovoltaic); 
  • Reliability of coated PV;
  • Application to BIPV (Building-Integrated Photovoltaics) using coated PV panels;
  • Application to car-roof PV that matches the body color of vehicles: quality control of artistic PV panels, including car-roof PVs;
  • Anti-soiling coating to PV;
  • Heat radiation coating to PV.

Dr. Kenji Araki
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research

19 pages, 2403 KiB  
Editorial
To Do List for Research and Development and International Standardization to Achieve the Goal of Running a Majority of Electric Vehicles on Solar Energy
by Kenji Araki, Liang Ji, George Kelly and Masafumi Yamaguchi
Coatings 2018, 8(7), 251; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8070251 - 17 Jul 2018
Cited by 63 | Viewed by 19373
Abstract
A car-roof photovoltaic has enormous potential to change our society. With this technology, 70% of a car can run on the solar energy collected by the solar panel on its roof. Unfortunately, it is not a simple extension of conventional photovoltaic technology. This [...] Read more.
A car-roof photovoltaic has enormous potential to change our society. With this technology, 70% of a car can run on the solar energy collected by the solar panel on its roof. Unfortunately, it is not a simple extension of conventional photovoltaic technology. This paper lists what we need to do to achieve the goal of running a majority of cars on renewable solar energy, after clarification of the difference to conventional photovoltaic technology. In addition to technological development, standardization will be important and this list was made highlighting standardization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Research

Jump to: Editorial

8 pages, 2337 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Reliability Evaluation of Silica-Based Coating with Antireflection Effect for Photovoltaic Modules
by Kensuke Nishioka, So Pyay Moe and Yasuyuki Ota
Coatings 2019, 9(1), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9010049 - 15 Jan 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3491
Abstract
Not all sunlight irradiated on the surface of a photovoltaic (PV) module can reach the cells in the PV module. This loss reduces the conversion efficiency of the PV module. The main factors of this loss are the reflection and soiling on the [...] Read more.
Not all sunlight irradiated on the surface of a photovoltaic (PV) module can reach the cells in the PV module. This loss reduces the conversion efficiency of the PV module. The main factors of this loss are the reflection and soiling on the surface of the PV module. With this, it is effective to have both antireflection and antisoiling effects on the surface of PV modules. In this study, the antireflection and antisoiling effects along with the long-term reliability of the silica-based layer easily coated on PV modules were assessed. A silica-based layer with a controlled thickness and refractive index was coated on the surface of a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 PV array. The array was exposed outdoors to assess its effects and reliability. As a result of the coating, the output of the PV array increased by 3.9%. The environment of the test site was relatively clean and the increase was considered to be a result of the antireflection effect. Moreover, it was observed that the effect of the coating was maintained without deterioration after 3.5 years. The coating was also applied to a silicon PV module and an effect similar to that of the CIGS PV module was observed in the silicon PV module. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

8 pages, 1641 KiB  
Article
Curve-Correction Factor for Characterization of the Output of a Three-Dimensional Curved Photovoltaic Module on a Car Roof
by Yasuyuki Ota, Taizo Masuda, Kenji Araki and Masafumi Yamaguchi
Coatings 2018, 8(12), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8120432 - 27 Nov 2018
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4101
Abstract
For modeling the energy generation of three-dimensional car roof photovoltaic (PV) panels, it is essential to define a scientifically accurate method to model the amount of solar irradiance received by the panel. Additionally, the average annual irradiance incident on car roofs must be [...] Read more.
For modeling the energy generation of three-dimensional car roof photovoltaic (PV) panels, it is essential to define a scientifically accurate method to model the amount of solar irradiance received by the panel. Additionally, the average annual irradiance incident on car roofs must be evaluated, because the PV module is often shaded during driving and when parked. The curve-correction factor, which is a unique value depending on the three-dimensional curved shape of the PV module, is defined in this paper. The curve-correction factor was calculated using a ray-trace simulator. It was found that the shape of the curved surface affected the curve-correction factor. The ratio of the projection area to the curved surface area of most car roofs is 0.85–0.95, and the annual curve-correction factor lies between 0.70 and 0.90. The annual irradiance incident on car roofs was evaluated using a mobile multipyranometer array system for one year (September 2017–August 2018). It is estimated that the effective annual solar radiation for curved PV modules is 2.53–3.52 kWh m−2/day. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

7 pages, 4644 KiB  
Article
Visually Attractive and High-Power-Retention Solar Modules by Coloring with Automotive Paints
by Taizo Masuda, Yuki Kudo and Debasish Banerjee
Coatings 2018, 8(8), 282; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8080282 - 15 Aug 2018
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 8367
Abstract
The automotive painting technique is highly advantageous for coloring solar modules, because it enables the modules to be visually attractive over a large area, numerous colors can be applied, and they are highly durable. Herein, we present a high-performance solar module colored using [...] Read more.
The automotive painting technique is highly advantageous for coloring solar modules, because it enables the modules to be visually attractive over a large area, numerous colors can be applied, and they are highly durable. Herein, we present a high-performance solar module colored using an automotive painting technique. We coated a dilute automotive pigment, the high-transmittance mica pigment, with a clear coat material on a crystalline Si solar module to generate blue color. Our measurements show that a pigment weight concentration of around 10% with the mica pigment is suitable for painting the solar modules, because it enables visual attractiveness while retaining over 80% of the output power, compared to the original solar module. We believe that the technique proposed herein can considerably increase the installable area of solar modules on a car body. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop