Back‐contact solar cells: a review

Kerschaver, Emmanuel Van; Beaucarne, G.

doi:10.1002/pip.657

Cited by 277 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The arrangement eliminates shading on the front of the cell. Rear contact PV cells achieve potentially higher efficiency by moving all or part of the front contact grids to the rear of the device [122]. They are especially useful in high current cells such as concentrators or large areas.…”

Section: Front-to-back Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It ensures the maximum cell surface area is exposed to direct sunlight. Less of ribbon material is used and the technology has a higher packing density as well as reduced recombination losses when compared with front-to-back interconnection [122], [158]. Moreover, the fatigue failure critical points are eliminated which improves the thermomechanical reliability of the interconnection and hence the PV module [117], [147], [159].…”

Section: Back-to-back Interconnectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This arrangement reduces the surface area of the cell exposed to direct sunlight. Consequently, the module power output and cell performance are adversely affected by shading losses [96], [103], [122], [127]. The 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 21 interconnection is from front to back of the cell with noticeable space between them as seen in Figs.…”

Section: Front-to-back Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is ongoing research to increase the performance of PV modules by improving selectivity of contacts and reducing recombination to the barest minimum [120]- [122].…”

Section: Contact Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, this situation is different from an actual PV cell where recombination of electrons and holes occur. Recombination is a process in which the electrons recombine with the holes before they can be conducted away as electric current.There is ongoing research to increase the performance of PV modules by improving selectivity of contacts and reducing recombination to the barest minimum [120]- [122].Sections 3.1 and 3.2 present design considerations of contacts and types of contacts respectively while discussions on recommendations of contact technology for tropical climate application are at section 3.3. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of photovoltaic module technologies for increased performance in tropical climate

Ogbomo

Amalu

Ekere

et al. 2017

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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The global adoption and use of photovoltaic modules (PVMs) as the main source of energy is the key to realising the UN Millennium Development Goals on Green Energy. The technology -projected to contribute about 20% of world energy supply by 2050, over 60% by 2100 and leading to 50% reduction in global CO 2 emissions -is threatened by its poor performance in tropical climate. Such performance discourages its regional acceptance. The magnitude of crucial module performance influencing factors (cell temperature, wind speed and relative humidity) reach critical values of 90°C, 0.2 m/s and 85%, respectively in tropical climates which negatively impact module performance indices which include power output (PO), power conversion efficiency (PCE) and energy payback time (EPBT). This investigation reviews PVM technologies which include cell, contact and interconnection technologies. It identifies critical technology route(s) with potential to increase operational reliability of PVMs in the tropics when adopted. The cell performance is measured by PO, PCE and EPBT while contacts and interconnections performance is measured by the degree of recombination, shading losses and also the rate of thermo-mechanical degradation. It is found that the mono-crystalline cell has the best PCE of 25% while the Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) cell has the lowest EPBT of 8-months. Results show that the poly-crystalline cell has the largest market share amounting to 54%. The CdTe cell exhibits 0% drop in PCE at high-temperatures and low irradiance operations -demonstrating least affected PO by the conditions. Further results establish that back contacts and back-to-back interconnection technologies produce the least recombination losses and demonstrate absence of shading in addition to possessing longest interconnection fatigue life. Based on these findings, the authors propose a PVM comprising CdTe cell, back contacts and backto-back interconnection technologies as the technology with latent capacity to produce improved performance in tropical climates. Keywordsphotovoltaic modules; solar cell technology; contact technology; interconnection technology; energy payback time; power conversion efficiency; fatigue life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 2 *Manuscript Click here to view linked References IntroductionThe annual electrical power consumption of the entire planet can be generated by the sun in just one hour [1]. Thus, solar energy is abundant in addition to being clean, sustainable and renewable [2], [3]. Surprisingly, some parts of the world are still struggling to meet their energy needs. It may suffice to say that the regions experiencing energy issues may be having energy conversion problems rather than energy supply problems [2], [4]. It is projected that if 100% exploitation of the energy potentials of the sun ca...

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Section: Front-to-back Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Back-to-back Interconnectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Front-to-back Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is ongoing research to increase the performance of PV modules by improving selectivity of contacts and reducing recombination to the barest minimum [120]- [122].…”

Section: Contact Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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