Solar materials research

In this section, an overview will be provided of the topical areas of surface science research that are especially important to solar energy technologies. These comments are based in part on a report from a workshop held in July 1980 (4). Broad areas of surface science that affect solar materials research are indicated. 

A. W. Czandema, Polymers as Advanced Materials forDesiccant Applications 1987, Solar Energy Research Institute, Golden, Colo., 1988. 

Solar R. J., Pollack, S. R. and Korostoffe, E., In-vitro Corrosion Testing of Titanium Surgical Implant Alloys An Approach to Understanding Titanium Release from Implants , Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 13, 217-250 (1979)... 

Hollingsworth, J. A. Buhro, W. E. Hepp, A. F. Jenkins, P. P. Stan, M. A. 1998. Spray chemical vapor deposition of CuInS2 thin films for application in solar cell devices. Chemical Aspects of Electronic Ceramics Processing, edited by Kumta, P. N. et al., MRS Symp. Proc., Vol. 495, Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 171-176. 

G Hodes, D Cahen. Ternary adamantine materials for low-cost solar cells (Project No. IL-2-04132-1), Quarterly Status Report to Solar Energy Research Institute, Golden, CO, 1985. 

The authors would also like to acknowledge the Solar Energy Research Institute, Golden, Colorado as well as the Materials Research Laboratory Program at Brown University for their support. 

In summary, we have described the main concepts of two components of our program, one on composite materials and the other on alloys. The experiments on composite materials are still not advanced enough to tell how effective such materials will be as electrodes. The results on the alloys show some promise, and point to the need for a more basic materials approach in order to obtain improved electrodes. This work was supported by the Solar Energy Research Institute. 

Solar Energy Research Institute, Materials Branch, Golden, CO 80401... 

The cost-effective deployment of large areas of solar collectors will most probably be polycrystalline materials, with all index planes emerging at the surface. Therefore, it is not expected that the structural determination of solar materials surfaces will be applied except for a few special cases. However, determining S/S inter facial structures is important, as shown by Figs. 6-9 in Ref. 2. The challenge in solar interface research will be to understand the changes in surface activity of heterogeneous real surfaces and interfaces. Here, SEM and possibly STEM techniques should be used extensively. 

Table 1 of a paper by Murr (2) lists problems and/or concerns related to specific interface materials and specific components of SECS. In Table 2 of the same work, he related topical study areas and/or research problems to S/S, S/L, S/G, L/L, and L/G interfaces. It is also useful to divide interface science into specific topical areas of study and consider how these will apply to interfaces in solar materials. These study areas are thin films grain, phase, and interfacial boundaries oxidation and corrosion adhesion semiconductors surface processes, chemisorption, and catalysis abrasion and erosion photon-assisted surface reactions and photoelectrochemistry and interface characterization methods. The actual or potential solar applications, research issues and/or concerns, and needs and opportunities are presented in the proceedings of a recent Workshop (4) and summarized in a recent review (3). 

This book, a continuation of the series Advances in Materials Research, is intended to provide the general basis of the science and technology of crystal growth of silicon for solar cells. In the face of the destruction of the global environment, the degradation of world-wide natural resources and the exhaustion of energy sources in the twenty-first century, we all have a sincere desire for a better/safer world in the future. 

Among the various materials, silicon, which accounts for more than 90% of solar cells today, is undoubtedly the key, especially if we consider a large-scale deployment. To accelerate the deployment of photovoltaic technology by development of high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells, the Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University, organized a unique domestic workshop in 2004 and 2005 to discuss the approach from the view point of... 

Arthur J. Nozik is a senior research fellow with the Basic Science Division of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He received his B.S.Ch. from Cornell University in 1959 and his M.S. in 1962 and his Ph.D. in 1967 in physical chemistry from Yale University. Since receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Nozik has worked at NRL, where he has conducted research in nanoscience, photoelectrochemistry, photocatalysis, and hydrogen energy systems. He has served on numerous scientific review panels and received several awards in solar energy research. He is a senior editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Materials Research Society, the Society of Photo Optical Instrument Engineers, and the Electrochemical Society. 

ADAM HELLER heads the Electronic Materials Research Department at AT T Bell Laboratories. He holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He authored 102 papers and holds 30 patents in semiconductor electro-chemistry, lithium batteries, liquid lasers, and electronic materials. His current research interests include transparent metals, interconnection of microelectronic components, materials for microelectronic devices and their processing, and hydrogen-evolving solar cells. 

A.W. Czanderna, and R.F. Relnlsch for their contributions. Thanks also are due to members of the Energy and Materials Research Section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for their help In preparing this document. This document was prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. EG-77-C-01-4024. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration facility, and the Solar Energy Research Institute Is a Department of Energy facility. 

DSET Laboratories, Inc. "Properties and Durability Data for Solar Materials" Contract XH-9-8215-1 Solar Energy Research Institute Golden, CO, 1981. 

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