Solar cells module

We have already mentioned amorphous silicon solar cells. New processes have been developed to manufacture solar cells based upon deposition of very thin films of photosensitive materials. Such processes have a distinct cost advantage since once the films are deposited, little further processing is needed to form the final solar cell module. 

The research effort in many laboratories around the world on the optimization of laboratory-scale (1-cm- area) cells has led to the development of large-area (1 m ) solar cell modules with an efficiency exceeding 10% [613,614]. In a module individual cells can be connected in series or parallel, depending on the desired... 

It is noticed that the improvement of solar cells is remarkable, and the efficiencies of Si-single crystal cell and the poly crystalline cell reach 17 % and 12.5 %, respectively. The average cost of solar cell module is 3 per watt, which can be competitive with other conventional power sources [8],... 

Although photovoltaic conversion is nonpolluting, environmental, health, and safety aspects must be considered, especially with regard to harmful emission and waste products resulting from the production of the solar cell modules. It has been shown that, with proper encapsulation and a proactive recycling program, it should be possible to minimize environmental concerns. 

Audiovisual Communications Equipment Electronic Components Solar Cells Modules Home Appliances... 

J. Wennerberg, Design and Stability of Cu(In,Ga)Se2-Based Solar Cell Modules, Ph.D. Thesis, Uppsala University, 2002... 

For outdoor applications, solar cells/modules have to survive temperatures up to 80° C, and Surlyn would not be the best material. Therefore, polymer-sealing materials with higher heat resistivity are needed. It has been reported that some linear LDPEs (low-density polyethylenes) and HDPEs (high-density polyethylenes) have shown promising results [10-12], Bynel (an anhydride modified LLDPE) from Dupont is now regularly used as a sealing material in nc-DSCs. 

Single-crystal silicon, solar-cell modules presently cost 5-10 per peak watt (Wp), and the world market for 1983 is estimated to be 18 - 20 MWP. By 1990, the annual sales for photovoltaic modules may be greater than 1 billion (Brandhorst et al., 1982). 

As the cost of the silicon wafer is about half the final cost of the solar cell module, the use of crystalline thin film on non-silicon low-cost substrate is of great interest. The main issues are the compatibility of the substrate with... 

Toyoda T. (2006), Ontdoor tests of large area dye sensitized solar cell modules by Aisin Sedd, Inc. , Re2009 Renewable Energy Congress, Makura, Japan, October 2006. 

Aemouts, T. et al.. Printable anodes for flexible organic solar cell modules. Thin Solid Films 451-152, 22-25, 2004. 

Solar cell modules must undergo substantial reductions in cost in order to become economically attractive as practical devices for the terrestrial production of electricity. Part of the cost reductions must be realized by the encapsulation materials which are used to package, protect, and support the solar cells, electrical interconnects, and other ancillary components. As many of the encapsulation materials are polymeric, cost reductions necessitate the use of low-cost polymers. This article describes the current status of low-cost polymers being developed or Identified for encapsulation application, requirements for polymeric encapsulation materials, and evolving theories and test results of antlsolllng technology. 

Cuddihy, E.F., Baum, B., and Willis, P., "Low-Cost Encapsulation Materials for Terrestrial Solar Cell Modules", Solar Energy, Vol. 22, p. 389 (1979). 

Laboratories, Low-Cost Encapsulation Materials for Terrestrial Solar Cell Modules, JPL Internal Document No. 5101-78, Pasadena, California, September 1978. 

Emery, K. Measurements and characterization of solar cell modules. In Luque, A., Hegedus, S. (eds.) Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, pp. 701-752. Wiley, New York (2003)... 

R.L. Smith, K.M. Stika, and J.S. Wall, Poly(vinyl butyral) encapsu-lant comprising chelating agents for solar cell modules, US Patent 8 338 699, assigned to E 1 du Pont de Nemours and Company (Wilmington, DE), December 25, 2012. 

Krebs, F.C. (2009) Polymer solar cell modules prepared using roll-to-roU methods knife-over-edge coating, slot-die coating and screen printing. Sol. Eneigy Mater. Sol. Cells, 93 (4), 465—475. 

Research in the field of OPV based on small molecules or polymer/PCBM systems has developed tremendously within the past decade. Champion laboratory cells reaching efficiencies of 10% have been reported recently [132]. However, average solar cell efficiencies of optimized laboratory cells ranging in between 5 and 6% and PCE values of solar cell modules already commercially available on the market are usually lowered by a factor of about 2. 

Obara S (2010), Study of a water electrolysis system using a compact solar cell module with a plant shoot configuration , Int J Hydrogen Energy, 35,26-36. 

T. Aernouts, P. Vanlaeke, W. Geens, J. Poortmans, P. Heremans, S. Borghs, R. Mertens, R. Andriessen and L. Leenders, Printable anodes for flexible organic solar cell modules. Thin Solid Films 451-452, 22-25 (2004). 

Nakajima, K. Solar cell module for window and cell fi-ame. Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho JP 2005149814, 2005 Chem. Abstr. 2005,143, 10641. 

US5707459 13 Janvier 1998 Canon Kabushiki Kaisba, Solar Cell Module provided with a Heat-fused Portion. 

Krebs PC, Fyenbo J, J0rgensen M (2010) Product integration of compact roll-to-roU processed polymer solar cell modules methods and manufacture using flexographic printing, slot-die coating and rotary screen printing. J Mater Chem 20(41) 8994-9001... 

Fig. 17.6 Efficiencies of silicon-based research solar cells (blue) reach 23%. whereas efficiencies of >36% can be achieved in lll-V compound tandem cells with concentrators. Only for solar-cell modules with >20% efficiency can one hope for economic large-scale electricity production.

Mass production ofhighest-efBciency (>36%) photovoltaic solar cell modules for various concentrator principles (lenses, mirrors, etc.) for power plants and for roofs/architecture. 

High-efEciency silicon and GIGS solar cell modules ( 20%) on lowlocalized energy consumption (roofs, architecture in general). ... 

The most extensively studied a-Si H solar cells, due to their highest conversion efficiencies, are those fabricated in the form of p-i-n devices. Typically, the p-a-Si H film is less than 10 nm, the undoped (-a-Si H is between 200 and 700 nm and w-a-Si H layer is approx. 30-50 nm. The layers are deposited on each other in successive plasma reactor chambers connected by vacuum locks. A metaUic electrode is used as a substrate. An opposite optically transparent and electrically conducting electrode (e.g. ITO film) is deposited from the top. Today, the commercial large-area solar cell modules based on a-Si H are fabricated with a stabilized conversion efficiency (the ratio of the maximum power output to the solar energy input) in the 4-6 % range (Green, 2007). 

Table 13.1 Optimized cost structure in terms of materials usage and processing time for the manufacturing of polymer solar cell modules. The calculation is the actual cost for the manufacture of one 16 x 13 mm module with an active area of 360 cm and includes associated materials losses. Power outputs for these modules are up to 660 mW (AM1.5G, 1000 W m" ). Reproduced from ref. 3 with the permission of RSC Publications, 2014.

The manufacture of solar cell modules with transparent conducting film covered by amorphous Si layer and electrode on the backside linked to the transparent isolator layer is described in Ref. [177]. The preparation includes the application of a laser beam for electrode molding and exposure in oxidizing atmosphere containing 0.5-5% OjOr >10% O [177]. 

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