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Materials for Photovoltaic Applications, Volume II
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Materials for Photovoltaic Applications, Volume II

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2021) | Viewed by 5169

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Gregory J. Wilson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Solar Technologies, CSIRO Energy, Newcastle Energy Centre, Mayfield West, NSW 2304, Australia
2. School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Interests: photovoltaics; solar energy; perovskites; thin-film; tandem devices; dye-sensitised/dye-sensitized solar cells; quantum chemistry, ruthenium chemistry; ruthenium complexes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As an industry, total installed photovoltaic (PV) modules now exceed more than 500 GW with the annual global photovoltaic market in 2018 of 103 GW, valued at USD 53 billion, and is projected to reach USD 333 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of >25% from 2019 to 2026. Photovoltaic technologies have the highest CAGR of any power generation technology worldwide and, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), unsubsidised renewable energy is now the most affordable source of energy generation. As commercial PV approaches the fundamental limits associated with single junction silicon devices (a light to electrical power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ~28%), alternative materials, interfaces and architectures to improve device efficiency will become crucial for PV to realise widespread renewable energy and a sustainable future for all.

Photovoltaics and their fundamental materials continue to generate significant interest from academia and industry as alternative components and next-generation, high-efficiency, low-cost, photovoltaic (PV) devices with record efficiency reports for emerging semiconductor materials such as perovskites, and tandem cell configurations are driving new science and engineering. Beyond energy yield, for long-term stability and commercial applications, packaging, anti-soiling coatings and up/down conversion materials are important to extend the cell and module’s lifetime and the overall durability of the material. For all semiconductor systems, improving materials and interfaces is critical where experimental studies span metallurgical recrystallisation, physical vapour deposition (PVD), chemical vapour deposition (CVD) electrodeposition, sputtering and low-temperature solution-processed methods. This is our second installment of the Special Issue of Materials and will bring together recent research and development in the field of photovoltaics and solar cells covering:

  • Novel materials and device architectures;
  • Fundamental studies on organic layers and applications to multi-junction cells
  • Advances in single and multicrystalline silicon solar cells, thin film silicon cells and amorphous silicon;
  • Technology advances in quantum dots, dye-sensitised solar cells and organic photovoltaics;
  • Perovskite semiconductors, solar cells and materials;
  • Compound semiconductor cells (CIS, CIGS, CdTe);
  • Group III–V semiconductors solar cells;
  • Application and advances in materials for photovoltaic including transparent conductive oxide (TCO), anti-reflective coating (ARC), graphene and graphite composites, plasmonics and novel light trapping, hot-carrier effects and up/down conversion.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, perspectives and reviews related to materials for photovoltaic applications are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Gregory J. Wilson
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. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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.

Keywords

  • nanostructured materials
  • solar cells
  • energy
  • silicon
  • metal oxides
  • group III–V semiconductors
  • chalcogenides
  • organic semiconductors
  • polymer solar cells
  • perovskite semiconductors
  • organic photovoltaics
  • dye-sensitised/dye-sensitized
  • simulation and modelling
  • density-functional theory (DFT)

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 2679 KiB  
Article
Performance of Luminescent Solar Concentrators Integrated with Negative Replica Layers of Leaf Surface Microstructures
by Bing-Mau Chen, Han-Yi Fu, Shang-Ping Ying and Ting-Wei Hsu
Materials 2022, 15(7), 2353; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15072353 - 22 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1210
Abstract
In this study, a negative replica layer of leaf surface microstructures was used to cover the top surfaces of semitransparent thin-film luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) to enhance the concentrators’ performance. With low reflection on the air–glass interface of the glass plate in a [...] Read more.
In this study, a negative replica layer of leaf surface microstructures was used to cover the top surfaces of semitransparent thin-film luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) to enhance the concentrators’ performance. With low reflection on the air–glass interface of the glass plate in a thin-film LSC, a negative replica layer enables the scattering of incident sunlight and increases the path of light transmitted into the LSC and the thin phosphor layer at the bottom surface of the LSC. The incident sunlight is therefore more likely to interact with the phosphor particles in the thin-film phosphor layer, thereby enhancing the performance of the LSC. In this study, semitransparent thin-film LSCs with different inorganic phosphors were examined. The experimental results revealed that the optical collection efficiency of semitransparent thin-film LSCs covered with negative replica layers of leaf surface microstructures was higher than that of the semitransparent thin-film LSCs without negative replica layers. Furthermore, the LSCs with negative replica layers with high haze ratios exhibited high optical collection efficiency. Integrating negative replica layers of leaf surface microstructures as semitransparent layers in thin-film LSCs may optimize the application of LSCs in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials for Photovoltaic Applications, Volume II)
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9 pages, 3538 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Post-Deposition Recrystallization Processing via Indium Bromide of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Films
by Deewakar Poudel, Benjamin Belfore, Tasnuva Ashrafee, Shankar Karki, Grace Rajan, Angus Rockett and Sylvain Marsillac
Materials 2021, 14(13), 3596; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14133596 - 28 Jun 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1641
Abstract
Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films were deposited at low temperature (350 °C) and high rate (10 µm/h) by a single stage process. The effect of post-deposition treatments at 400 °C and 500 °C by indium bromide vapor were studied and compared to the [...] Read more.
Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films were deposited at low temperature (350 °C) and high rate (10 µm/h) by a single stage process. The effect of post-deposition treatments at 400 °C and 500 °C by indium bromide vapor were studied and compared to the effect of a simple annealing under selenium. Structural, electrical, and chemical analyses demonstrate that there is a drastic difference between the different types of annealing, with the ones under indium bromide leading to much larger grains and higher conductivity. These properties are associated with a modification of the elemental profiles, specifically for gallium and sodium. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials for Photovoltaic Applications, Volume II)
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16 pages, 8749 KiB  
Article
Novel Red Light-Absorbing Organic Dyes Based on Indolo[3,2-b]carbazole as the Donor Applied in Co-Sensitizer-Free Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Zhanhai Xiao, Bing Chen and Xudong Cheng
Materials 2021, 14(7), 1716; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14071716 - 31 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1771
Abstract
Three novel organic dyes (D6, D7 and D8), based on indolo[3,2-b]carbazole as the donor and different types of electron-withdrawing groups as the acceptors, were synthesized and successfully applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Their molecular structures were fully characterized by [...] Read more.
Three novel organic dyes (D6, D7 and D8), based on indolo[3,2-b]carbazole as the donor and different types of electron-withdrawing groups as the acceptors, were synthesized and successfully applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Their molecular structures were fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopy. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis, UV–Vis absorption characterization and tests of the solar cells were used to investigate the photophysical/electrochemical properties as well as DSSCs’ performances based on the dyes. Dye D8 showed the broadest light-response range (300–770 nm) in the incident monochromatic photo-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) curve, due to its narrow bandgap (1.95 eV). However, dye D6 exhibited the best device performance among the three dyes, with power conversion efficiency of 5.41%, Jsc of 12.55 mA cm−2, Voc of 745 mV and fill factor (FF) of 0.59. We also found that dye aggregation was efficiently suppressed by the introduction of alkylated indolo[3,2-b]carbazole, and, hence, better power conversion efficiencies were observed for all the three dyes, compared to the devices of co-sensitization with chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA). It was unnecessary to add adsorbents to suppress the dye aggregation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials for Photovoltaic Applications, Volume II)
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