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New Trends in Solar Energy Materials: Characterization, Properties and Applications
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New Trends in Solar Energy Materials: Characterization, Properties and Applications

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 6356

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Fernando B. Naranjo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Photonics Engineering Group (GRIFO), Electronics Department, EPS, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Interests: sputtering; nitrides; solar cells; mode-locked lasers; saturable absorbers; optoelectronic devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Susana Fernández

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Energy department, Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: material deposition by magnetron sputtering; transparent conductive oxides; hybrid transparent electrodes; antireflective coatings; selective contacts; nitride-based light absorbers; optoelectronic devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photovoltaics (PV) is a key technology option for realizing a decarbonized power sector and sustainable energy supply, due to the need to limit the maximum global average temperature as acknowledged in the Paris Agreement. This PV technology is very versatile, and hence it can be deployed in a modular way almost everywhere on the planet. Regardless of how fast energy prices increase in the future, and the reasons behind these increases, PV is one of the renewable energies that not only offers the stabilization of but even a reduction in future prices. For this reason, the PV sector is rapidly growing while its global production has increased by approximately 50% per year over the last five years. 

The main purpose of this Special Issue is to give an overview of the current trends in energy materials for investigation and innovation in PV technology that allow the development of more efficient products, within which all aspects of the value chain are covered. To be successful, cutting-edge materials involved in those technologies need to be implemented in novel solutions. Recently, low-dimensional systems based on graphene-related, organic and semiconductor materials have attracted interest as a way to cope with PV system challenges. 

This Special Issue is devoted to recent advances in solar energy materials, including: 

  • New absorbers as alternatives to silicon, based on safe and raw materials.
  • Alternative transparent conductive oxides free of critical raw materials using innovative architectures (multilayers, hybrid, etc.).
  • Innovative transparent electrodes based on graphene, graphene/metal nanowire, 2D materials, etc.
  • Cost-effective fabrication routes easy to incorporate in the production chain.
  • Innovative characterization techniques of structural, chemical, optical and electrical properties of energy materials and/or new device designs.
  • New applications of advanced/alternative transparent conducting oxides, absorbers, electrodes, etc., for the development of the next generation of PV devices. 

Relevant contributions related to the design of prospective materials, the properties of original materials, and innovative characterization techniques will also be considered.

Prof. Fernando B. Naranjo
Dr. Susana Fernandez
Guest Editors

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

  • thin film
  • new materials
  • functional material properties
  • processing methods
  • next generation of photovoltaic devices

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 2562 KiB  
Article
Sputtered Non-Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon as Alternative Absorber for Silicon Photovoltaic Technology
by Susana Fernández, J. Javier Gandía, Elías Saugar, Mª Belén Gómez-Mancebo, David Canteli and Carlos Molpeceres
Materials 2021, 14(21), 6550; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216550 - 1 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1347
Abstract
Non-hydrogenated amorphous-silicon films were deposited on glass substrates by Radio Frequency magnetron sputtering with the aim of being used as precursor of a low-cost absorber to replace the conventional silicon absorber in solar cells. Two Serie of samples were deposited varying the substrate [...] Read more.
Non-hydrogenated amorphous-silicon films were deposited on glass substrates by Radio Frequency magnetron sputtering with the aim of being used as precursor of a low-cost absorber to replace the conventional silicon absorber in solar cells. Two Serie of samples were deposited varying the substrate temperature and the working gas pressure, ranged from 0.7 to 4.5 Pa. The first Serie was deposited at room temperature, and the second one, at 325 °C. Relatively high deposition rates above 10 Å/s were reached by varying both deposition temperature and working Argon gas pressure to ensure high manufacturing rates. After deposition, the precursor films were treated with a continuous-wave diode laser to achieve a crystallized material considered as the alternative light absorber. Firstly, the structural and optical properties of non-hydrogenated amorphous silicon precursor films were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, reflectance, and transmittance, respectively. Structural changes were observed in the as-deposited films at room temperature, suggesting an orderly structure within an amorphous silicon matrix; meanwhile, the films deposited at higher temperature pointed out an amorphous structure. Lastly, the effect of the precursor material’s deposition conditions, and the laser parameters used in the crystallization process on the quality and properties of the subsequent crystallized material was evaluated. The results showed a strong influence of deposition conditions used in the amorphous silicon precursor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Solar Energy Materials: Characterization, Properties and Applications)
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12 pages, 2794 KiB  
Article
Graphene-Based Electrodes for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell Technology
by Ignacio Torres, Susana Fernández, Montserrat Fernández-Vallejo, Israel Arnedo and José Javier Gandía
Materials 2021, 14(17), 4833; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14174833 - 26 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2705
Abstract
Transparent conductive electrodes based on graphene have been previously proposed as an attractive candidate for optoelectronic devices. While graphene alone lacks the antireflectance properties needed in many applications, it can still be coupled with traditional transparent conductive oxides, further enhancing their electrical performance. [...] Read more.
Transparent conductive electrodes based on graphene have been previously proposed as an attractive candidate for optoelectronic devices. While graphene alone lacks the antireflectance properties needed in many applications, it can still be coupled with traditional transparent conductive oxides, further enhancing their electrical performance. In this work, the effect of combining indium tin oxide with between one and three graphene monolayers as the top electrode in silicon heterojunction solar cells is analyzed. Prior to the metal grid deposition, the electrical conductance of the hybrid electrodes was evaluated through reflection-mode terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The obtained conductance maps showed a clear electrical improvement with each additional graphene sheet. In the electrical characterization of the finished solar cells, this translated to a meaningful reduction in the series resistance and an increase in the devices’ fill factor. On the other hand, each additional sheet absorbs part of the incoming radiation, causing the short circuit current to simultaneously decrease. Consequently, additional graphene monolayers past the first one did not further enhance the efficiency of the reference cells. Ultimately, the increase obtained in the fill factor endorses graphene-based hybrid electrodes as a potential concept for improving solar cells’ efficiency in future novel designs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Solar Energy Materials: Characterization, Properties and Applications)
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8 pages, 4084 KiB  
Article
Structural Characterization of Al0.37In0.63N/AlN/p-Si (111) Heterojunctions Grown by RF Sputtering for Solar Cell Applications
by Arántzazu Núñez-Cascajero, Fernando B. Naranjo, María de la Mata and Sergio I. Molina
Materials 2021, 14(9), 2236; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092236 - 27 Apr 2021
Viewed by 1543
Abstract
Compact Al0.37In0.63N layers were grown by radiofrequency sputtering on bare and 15 nm-thick AlN-buffered Si (111) substrates. The crystalline quality of the AlInN layers was studied by high-resolution X-ray diffraction measurements and transmission electron microscopy. Both techniques show an [...] Read more.
Compact Al0.37In0.63N layers were grown by radiofrequency sputtering on bare and 15 nm-thick AlN-buffered Si (111) substrates. The crystalline quality of the AlInN layers was studied by high-resolution X-ray diffraction measurements and transmission electron microscopy. Both techniques show an improvement of the structural properties when the AlInN layer is grown on a 15 nm-thick AlN buffer. The layer grown on bare silicon exhibits a thin amorphous interfacial layer between the substrate and the AlInN, which is not present in the layer grown on the AlN buffer layer. A reduction of the density of defects is also observed in the layer grown on the AlN buffer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Solar Energy Materials: Characterization, Properties and Applications)
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