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Next-Generation Solar Cells
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Next-Generation Solar Cells

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2021) | Viewed by 11244

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jae-Yup Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Interests: photoelectrochemistry; photovoltaics; quantum dots; photoelectrochemical water splitting and hydrogen production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solar cells have attracted much attention as a renewable energy source because of their clean, quiet, and reliable properties. However, the crystalline silicon solar cells that occupy most of the market share today currently provide only a small fraction of global energy demand, mainly due to their high fabrication cost. Therefore, significant research effort has been focused on the development of next-generation solar cells, including thin film solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), organic solar cells, and quantum dot solar cells. In particular, recently, perovskite solar cells have emerged as a leading next-generation solar cell because of their excellent conversion efficiency. For the commercialization of these emerging solar cells, intensive studies are in progress to enhance the conversion efficiency and long-term stability of the devices. In addition, it is also important to develop a low-cost and simple fabrication process.

This Special Issue will focus on the materials, system, and fabrication process of next-generation solar cells, including thin film solar cells, DSSCs, organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and perovskite solar cells. We invite not only original research articles but also review papers that provide important insight into the development of next-generation solar cells.

Prof. Dr. Jae-Yup Kim
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. Energies 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 solar cells
  • dye-sensitized solar cells
  • organic solar cells
  • quantum dot solar cells
  • perovskite solar cells

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 33124 KiB  
Article
Laser Modified Glass for High-Performance Photovoltaic Module
by Olgierd Jeremiasz, Paweł Nowak, Franciszek Szendera, Piotr Sobik, Grażyna Kulesza-Matlak, Paweł Karasiński, Wojciech Filipowski and Kazimierz Drabczyk
Energies 2022, 15(18), 6742; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15186742 - 15 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1457
Abstract
The solar module output power is the power generated by all individual cells in their specific electrical circuit configuration, multiplied by the cell-to-module power ratio. The cell-to-module power ratio thus reflects the sum of the losses and gains produced by the structure of [...] Read more.
The solar module output power is the power generated by all individual cells in their specific electrical circuit configuration, multiplied by the cell-to-module power ratio. The cell-to-module power ratio thus reflects the sum of the losses and gains produced by the structure of the module. The biggest process change in module design during the last few years was the introduction of half cells. Another important trend is the use of bifacial cells to build bifacial modules. These two trends increase parts of the module that correspond to the intercell gaps, and the light does not meet the cell in its path. This part of the radiation is therefore not used efficiently. Scientific efforts focus on the texturing surface of covering glass and cells, and the introduction of narrower ribbons and encapsulation materials with improved UV performance, etc. The concept of a diffusor that actively redirects light from the intercell space into the cell was proposed in the past, in the form of a micro-structured prismatic film, but this is not applicable for bifacial modules. The conclusion is that losses caused by the incidence of light on the areas of the photovoltaic panel not covered with solar cells yet are to be explored further. A sawtooth-shaped reflecting diffusor placed between cells is proposed. This article addresses the issue in a novel way, primarily because the theoretical range of the optimum sawtooth profile is defined. In the experimental part of the study, the possibility of producing such a profile directly on glass using a CO2 laser is demonstrated. The theoretical model enables discrimination between advantageous and disadvantageous sawtooth profiles. As a proof of concept, minimodules based on the optimum parameters were built and tested for their electrical performance. The result confirms that the proposed sawtooth-shaped reflecting diffusor placed between cells creates cell-to-module power gain. The proposed laser technology can be incorporated into existing production lines, and can increase the output of any photovoltaic technology, including and beyond silicon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Solar Cells)
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15 pages, 12537 KiB  
Article
Crystal Engineering Approach for Fabrication of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cell in Ambient Conditions
by Inga Ermanova, Narges Yaghoobi Nia, Enrico Lamanna, Elisabetta Di Bartolomeo, Evgeny Kolesnikov, Lev Luchnikov and Aldo Di Carlo
Energies 2021, 14(6), 1751; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061751 - 22 Mar 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4401
Abstract
In this paper, we demonstrate the high potentialities of pristine single-cation and mixed cation/anion perovskite solar cells (PSC) fabricated by sequential method deposition in p-i-n planar architecture (ITO/NiOX/Perovskite/PCBM/BCP/Ag) in ambient conditions. We applied the crystal engineering approach for perovskite deposition to [...] Read more.
In this paper, we demonstrate the high potentialities of pristine single-cation and mixed cation/anion perovskite solar cells (PSC) fabricated by sequential method deposition in p-i-n planar architecture (ITO/NiOX/Perovskite/PCBM/BCP/Ag) in ambient conditions. We applied the crystal engineering approach for perovskite deposition to control the quality and crystallinity of the light-harvesting film. The formation of a full converted and uniform perovskite absorber layer from poriferous pre-film on a planar hole transporting layer (HTL) is one of the crucial factors for the fabrication of high-performance PSCs. We show that the in-air sequential deposited MAPbI3-based PSCs on planar nickel oxide (NiOX) permitted to obtain a Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) exceeding 14% while the (FA,MA,Cs)Pb(I,Br)3-based PSC achieved 15.6%. In this paper we also compared the influence of transporting layers on the cell performance by testing material depositions quantity and thickness (for hole transporting layer), and conditions of deposition processes (for electron transporting layer). Moreover, we optimized second step of perovskite deposition by varying the dipping time of substrates into the MA(I,Br) solution. We have shown that the layer by layer deposition of the NiOx is the key point to improve the efficiency for inverted perovskite solar cell out of glove-box using sequential deposition method, increasing the relative efficiency of +26% with respect to reference cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Solar Cells)
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10 pages, 3270 KiB  
Article
Highly Ordered TiO2 Nanotube Electrodes for Efficient Quasi-Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by A Reum Lee and Jae-Yup Kim
Energies 2020, 13(22), 6100; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13226100 - 21 Nov 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1812
Abstract
Free-standing TiO2 nanotube (NT) electrodes have attracted much attention for application in solid- or quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because of their suitable pore structure for the infiltration of solid electrolytes. However, few studies have been performed on the relationship between nanostructures [...] Read more.
Free-standing TiO2 nanotube (NT) electrodes have attracted much attention for application in solid- or quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because of their suitable pore structure for the infiltration of solid electrolytes. However, few studies have been performed on the relationship between nanostructures of these NT electrodes and the photovoltaic properties of the solid- or quasi-solid-state DSSCs. Here, we prepare vertically aligned and highly ordered TiO2 NT electrodes via a two-step anodization method for application in quasi-solid-state DSSCs that employs a polymer gel electrolyte. The length of NT arrays is controlled in the range of 10–42 μm by varying the anodization time, and the correlation between NT length and the photovoltaic properties of quasi-solid-state DSSCs is investigated. As the NT length increases, the roughness factor of the electrode is enlarged, leading to the higher dye-loading; however, photovoltage is gradually decreased, resulting in an optimized conversion efficiency at the NT length of 18.5 μm. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis reveals that the decrease in photovoltage for longer NT arrays is mainly attributed to the increased electron recombination rate with redox couples in the polymer gel electrolyte. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Solar Cells)
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11 pages, 2496 KiB  
Article
On the Potential of Silicon Intermediate Band Solar Cells
by Esther López, Antonio Martí, Elisa Antolín and Antonio Luque
Energies 2020, 13(12), 3044; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13123044 - 12 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2379
Abstract
Intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) have an efficiency limit of 63.2%, which is significantly higher than the 40.7% limit for conventional single gap solar cells. In order to achieve the maximum efficiency, the total bandgap of the cell should be in the range [...] Read more.
Intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) have an efficiency limit of 63.2%, which is significantly higher than the 40.7% limit for conventional single gap solar cells. In order to achieve the maximum efficiency, the total bandgap of the cell should be in the range of ~2 eV. However, that fact does not prevent other cells based on different semiconductor bandgaps from benefiting from the presence of an intermediate band (IB) within their bandgap. Since silicon (1.12 eV bandgap) is the dominant material in solar cell technology, it is of interest to determine the limit efficiency of a silicon IBSC, because even a modest gain in efficiency could trigger a large commercial interest if the IB is implemented at low cost. In this work we study the limit efficiency of silicon-based IBSCs considering operating conditions that include the use of non-ideal photon casting between the optical transitions, different light intensities and Auger recombination. The results lead to the conclusion that a silicon IBSC, operating under the conventional model in which the sub-bandgaps add to the total silicon gap, provides an efficiency gain if operated in the medium-high concentration range. The performance of these devices is affected by Auger recombination only under extremely high concentrations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Solar Cells)
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