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Photonics
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Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale
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Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2022) | Viewed by 13675

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Christin David

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Guest Editor
Abbe Center of Photonics, Institute of Condensed Matter Theory and Optics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
Interests: theory and simulation; nanophotonics and nanoplasmonics; spectroscopy; microscopy; photovoltaics; catalysis; amorphous materials; rough interfaces; nonlinear and semi-classical interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Katarzyna Kluczyk-Korch

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Ludwika Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warszawa, Poland
Interests: theory and simulation; density functional theory; light emitting diodes; nanophotonics and nanoplasmonics; photovoltaics; semi-classical interactions
Dr. Robert Hussein

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility, Institute of Condensed Matter Theory and Optics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany
Interests: theoretical spectroscopy; machine learning; structural prediction; many-body effects; quantum transport; thermoelectrics; superconductivity; nanoelectromechanical systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solar energy applications hold the key to addressing humanities’ future energy needs, as it is one of the most important renewable energy source technologies.
Pushing solar energy applications’ efficiency in energy conversion to and beyond its classical limits, increasing their operating lifetime, and reducing their fabrication costs will be a joint effort across the whole photovoltaics value chain, starting from material science up to system optimization. On an atomic scale, the creation and exploitation of novel materials are a promising route to improve the material response and to discover novel effects. Dynamics of photons, electrons, and phonons for novel materials; the characterization of material states; and transport and absorption rates are tasks of a mesoscopic scale. At a nanoscale, their combination with particles, metamaterials, etc., allows for further tailoring of the electro-optical properties of solar cells, and novel designs and concepts are being pursued. After designing PV modules, the implementation for next generation solar cells remains challenging, and the fabrication and characterization of innovative concepts at a device scale level is the next step towards next-generation solar cell architectures. At an industrial level, both dealing with solar cell modules in both private households and on coorporative property, the storage and power distribution of renewable energies poses an increasing challenge.

All these different scales require novel multiscale modelling and characterization approaches that can capture both the peculiar features at a nanoscale as well as their impact on the optoelectronic performance at device levels. Aspects of design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization are equally of importance. Bridging these scales will play a vital role in the future success of photovoltaic technologies.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Solar Cell Concepts:
    • Organic and inorganic PV systems
    • Nanostructured materials and nanostructure states
    • Multi-terminal/-tandem solar cells
    • Thermophotovoltaics
  • Technologies on multiple scales:
    • Atomic scale: quantum mechanical descriptions, material properties, innovative concepts, Perovskites, conductive nitrides, etc.
    • Mesoscale: electro-optical properties; mesoscopic dynamics, such as photon, phonon, and electronic dynamics; transport and absorption rates; material bounary effects, etc.
    • Nano-scale/structuring: plasmonics, metamaterials, particles and waveguide structures, imprint/template technologies, etc.
    • Device scale: macroscopic device characterization, modeling, potential evaluation for industrial applications, etc.
    • Technological developments at an industrial scale: PV module design, energy storage, power distribution networks, feasibilty of novel concepts, etc.
  • Design, theory, fabrication, characterization, simulation, etc.

Dr. Christin David
Dr. Katarzyna Kluczyk-Korch
Dr. Robert Hussein
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. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2400 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.

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 3382 KiB  
Article
Design and Modelling of Metal-Oxide Nanodisk Arrays for Structural Colors and UV-Blocking Functions in Solar Cell Glass Covers
by Albert Peralta Amores, Ajith Padyana Ravishankar and Srinivasan Anand
Photonics 2022, 9(5), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9050273 - 19 Apr 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2187
Abstract
We present a multifunctional structural coloration strategy for solar cell glass covers based on all-dielectric nanoscatterer arrays. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures are designed to efficiently scatter in the visible and absorb in the UV region, making them suitable candidates as UV [...] Read more.
We present a multifunctional structural coloration strategy for solar cell glass covers based on all-dielectric nanoscatterer arrays. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures are designed to efficiently scatter in the visible and absorb in the UV region, making them suitable candidates as UV absorptive color coatings. Results from finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations on a square lattice of TiO2 nanocylinders show that a rich palette in the reflected colors can be obtained by varying the period of the lattice. The reflected colors are narrow-banded, with a typical FWHM ~11–17 nm, leading to a minimal penalty on the amount of transmitted light. This narrow band reflectance is attributed to the interaction of Mie resonances between individual scatterers with their neighbors in the lattice. The color appearance, with viewing angles of ~45°, is maintained for incidence angles up to ~70°. With TiO2 being transparent for a major part of silicon solar cells spectral response (400–1100 nm), a loss of ~4.5–9.2% in the short-circuit current has been estimated in the specified wavelength range, primarily due to the loss of photons in the reflected light. Furthermore, due to the inherent UV-absorption properties of TiO2, the proposed color-cover designs reduce the transmittance of UV radiation (320–400 nm) by up to ~63.70%, potentially preventing the degradation of the encapsulation materials and thus increasing the lifetime expectancy of a solar panel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale)
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11 pages, 7973 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Absorption in InP Nanodisk Arrays on Ultra-Thin-Film Silicon for Solar Cell Applications
by Mikko Kjellberg, Ajith Padyana Ravishankar and Srinivasan Anand
Photonics 2022, 9(3), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9030157 - 5 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2552
Abstract
The photovoltaic (PV) market today is dominated by silicon (Si)-based solar cells, which, however, can be improved in performance and cost by developing technologies that use less material. We propose an indium phosphide (InP) nanoresonator array on silicon ultra-thin film with a combined [...] Read more.
The photovoltaic (PV) market today is dominated by silicon (Si)-based solar cells, which, however, can be improved in performance and cost by developing technologies that use less material. We propose an indium phosphide (InP) nanoresonator array on silicon ultra-thin film with a combined thickness of 0.5 μm to 2 μm as a solution to minimize cost and maximize power efficiency. This paper focuses on simultaneously achieving broadband antireflection and enhanced absorption in thin-film Si with integrated InP nanodisk arrays. Electromagnetic simulations are used to design and optimize the reflectance and absorption of the proposed design. By varying the height and radius of the InP nanodisks on the Si substrate, together with the array pitch, a weighted reflectance minimum, with respect to the AM1.5 solar spectrum, of 2.9% is obtained in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 1100 nm. The antireflective properties are found to be a combination of a Mie-resonance-induced strong forward-scattering into the structure and an effective index-matching to the Si substrate. In terms of absorption, even up to 2 μm from the Si surface the InP nanodisk/Si structure consistently shows superior performance compared to plain Si as well as a Si nanodisk/Si structure. At a depth of 500 nm from the surface of the substrate, the absorption values were found to be 47.5% for the InP nanodisk/Si structure compared to only 18.2% for a plain Si substrate. This shows that direct bandgap InP nanoresonator arrays on thin-film Si solar cells can be a novel design to enhance the absorption efficiency of the cell. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale)
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21 pages, 2095 KiB  
Article
A Chaotic Second Order Oscillation JAYA Algorithm for Parameter Extraction of Photovoltaic Models
by Xianzhong Jian and Yougang Cao
Photonics 2022, 9(3), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9030131 - 25 Feb 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2017
Abstract
In order to identify the parameters of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules more accurately, reliably and efficiently, a chaotic second order oscillation JAYA algorithm (CSOOJAYA) is proposed. Firstly, both logical chaotic map and the mutation strategy are brought in enhancing the population diversity [...] Read more.
In order to identify the parameters of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules more accurately, reliably and efficiently, a chaotic second order oscillation JAYA algorithm (CSOOJAYA) is proposed. Firstly, both logical chaotic map and the mutation strategy are brought in enhancing the population diversity and improving exploitation. Secondly, in order to better balance exploration and exploitation, the second order oscillation factor is added, which not only improves the diversity of the population, but also has strong exploration at the beginning of the iteration and strong exploitation at the end of the iteration. In order to balance the two abilities, the self-adaptive weight is introduced into the CSOOJAYA algorithm to regulate individuals the tendency of moving toward the optimal solution and escaping from the worst solution, so as to enhance the search efficiency and exploitation. In order to validate the behavior of CSOOJAYA, it is employed to the parameter identification problem of PV models. Finally, the experimental results show that CSOOJAYA delivers excellent behavior in the aspects of convergence, reliability and accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale)
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10 pages, 3296 KiB  
Article
Passivation Effect of CsPbI3 Quantum Dots on the Performance and Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells
by Genjie Yang, Dianli Zhou, Jiawen Li and Junsheng Yu
Photonics 2022, 9(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9010003 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3706
Abstract
The quality of active layer film is the key factor affecting the performance of perovskite solar cells. In this work, we incorporated CsPbI3 quantum dots (QDs) materials into the MAPbI3 perovskite precursor to form photoactive layer. On one hand, CsPbI3 [...] Read more.
The quality of active layer film is the key factor affecting the performance of perovskite solar cells. In this work, we incorporated CsPbI3 quantum dots (QDs) materials into the MAPbI3 perovskite precursor to form photoactive layer. On one hand, CsPbI3 QDs can be used as nucleation center to enhance the compactness of the perovskite film, and on the other hand, partially CsPbI3 QDs can be dissociated as anions and cations to passivate vacancy defects in the perovskite active layer. As a result, the film quality of the active layer was improved remarkably, thus exciton recombination was reduced, and carrier transfer increased accordingly. The devices based on doped-CsPbI3 QDs film had higher short circuit current, open circuit voltage and filling factor. Finally, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was greatly enhanced from 14.85% to 17.04%. Furthermore, optimized devices also exhibited better stability. This work provides an effective strategy for the processing of high-quality perovskite films, which is of great value for the preparation and research of perovskite photoelectronic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale)
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6 pages, 1415 KiB  
Opinion
Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale
by Christin David and Robert Hussein
Photonics 2022, 9(11), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9110837 - 8 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1942
Abstract
The question of how energy resources can be efficiently used is likewise of fundamental and technological interest. In this opinion, we give a brief overview on developments of harvesting solar energy across different length scales and address some strategies to tackle economic and [...] Read more.
The question of how energy resources can be efficiently used is likewise of fundamental and technological interest. In this opinion, we give a brief overview on developments of harvesting solar energy across different length scales and address some strategies to tackle economic and ecological challenges, in particular with a view to sustainability and toward a circular economy. On the mesoscopic scale, the emergence of thermodynamic laws in open quantum systems is of central importance and how they can be employed for efficient quantum thermal machines and batteries. The broad tunability of band gaps in quantum dot systems makes them attractive for hybrid photovoltaic devices. Complementary, machine learning-aided band gap engineering and the high-throughput screening of novel materials assist with improving absorption characteristics. On the device scale, hybrid concepts of optical control via metasurfaces enable a multitude of functionalities such as a directed re-emission of embedded photoluminescent materials or field enhancement effects from nanostructures. Advanced techniques in computational nanophotonics concern a topology optimization of nanostructured layers together with multiobjective optimization toward specific light management tasks. On the industrial level, modern manufacturers explore 3D printing and flexible solar cell platforms obtained from roll-to-roll technologies. The remote control of solar parks through applications via the Internet of Things opens up new strategies to expand to difficult terrain where human interaction is only required to a limited extent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Photovoltaic Technologies from Atomic to Device Scale)
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