Enabling bifacial thin film devices by developing a back surface field using CuxAlOy

Subedi, Kamala Khanal; Phillips, Adam B.; Shrestha, Niraj; Alfadhili, Fadhil K.; Osella, Anna; Subedi, Indra; Awni, Rasha A.; Bastola, Ebin; Song, Zhaoning; Li, Deng‐Bing; Collins, R. W.; Yan, Yanfa; Podraza, Nikolas J.; Heben, Michael J.; Ellingson, Randy J.

doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105827

Cited by 36 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The poor bifaciality is mainly attributed to the relatively short carrier lifetimes, unfavorable band bending at the rear interface, and high rear surface recombination velocity of polycrystalline CdTe, as illustrated in Figure 4c. [19] Because of the low bifaciality, thin-film PV technologies based on CdTe, [20][21][22][23] CIGS, [24][25][26] organic PV, [27,28] and dye-sensitized solar cells [29,30] have only been considered for flexible, low-weight, semitransparent applications, [17] but have not yet commercialized for high-efficiency bifacial PV modules.…”

Section: Factors Limiting Bifacial Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perovskite Solar Cells Go Bifacial—Mutual Benefits for Efficiency and Durability

2021

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PV technologies need to advance further in terms of a substantial increase in PV module power generation, reduction in module prices, and improvement in long-term reliability, eventually realizing low levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) that are compatible with standard electricity prices in the energy market. The PV industry's future development necessitates increased attention to emerging techniques with the potential to achieve high power generation at low costs.Increasing the power output per unit area of solar panels at low additional manufacturing costs is crucial for further lowering the PV-generated electricity price. One of the simplest and inexpensive strategies for increasing the power output density of a solar panel is to harvest reflected and diffuse sunlight from the ground by employing bifacial designs. The concept of bifacial solar cells can date back to the 1960s, but the momentum to bring bifacial solar panels to the market has been gradually realized in the last decade as one of the latest technological advances in PV manufacturing. [4] The mainstream crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV module manufacturers are now producing bifacial silicon solar modules based on different cell technologies. The trend shows that bifacial solar cells and modules are increasingly important in today's PV market and may soon become the cost-effective PV standard. [5] Unlike c-Si solar cells, efficient bifacial designs have not been demonstrated in commercial inorganic thin-film PV technologies because the polycrystalline inorganic thin films suffer from short carrier lifetimes and high rear surface recombination, limiting their bifacial PV performance. Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have generated great interest in the PV research and industry, owing to their fast-growing power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), [6] outstanding optoelectronic properties, [7] ease of production, [8] low estimated manufacturing costs, [9] and readiness to take steps toward commercialization. [10] Within a decade, PSCs have rapidly evolved from a newcomer to a leading competitor to rival other established PV technologies.The development of PSCs opens up a golden opportunity to realize efficient bifacial thin-film solar cells. Figure 1 depicts the bifacial architecture for PSCs, summarizes the unique optoelectronic properties of perovskites that enable high bifacial performance, and highlights the advantages of bifacial Bifacial solar cells hold the potential to achieve a higher power output per unit area than conventional monofacial devices without significantly increasing manufacturing costs. However, efficient bifacial designs are challenging to implement in inorganic thin-film solar cells because of their short carrier lifetimes and high rear surface recombination. The emergence of perovskite photovoltaic (PV) technology creates a golden opportunity to realize efficient bifacial thin-film solar cells, owing to their outstanding optoelectronic properties and unique features of device physics. More importantly, transparent cond...

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Section: Factors Limiting Bifacial Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perovskite Solar Cells Go Bifacial—Mutual Benefits for Efficiency and Durability

2021

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“…Though bifacial device technology has successfully penetrated the crystalline silicon PV market, [1] the progress in thin-film devices is limited. [2][3][4][5][6] The major factors impeding the performance of back-illuminated thin-film devices are short minority carrier lifetime and high back surface recombination velocity. [7,8] Device simulations and experimental results indicate that a highly doped buffer at the back interface can reduce the interface defects or create a back surface field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[3,18,19] Several studies have been directed to the development of p-type transparent conducting materials, [20][21][22] which play a critical role in bifacial solar cells. [4,23,24] P-type conductivity, wide bandgap with high transparency in the visible region, high carrier concentration (>10 17 cm À3 ), and favorable band alignments are the required key parameters of a back-buffer layer for efficient DOI: 10.1002/solr.202200501…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[26] Subedi et al demonstrated 8.0% efficiency for a back-illuminated CdTe device with CuAlO x back-buffer, resulting in a bifaciality factor of 0.62. [4] Another interesting buffer is CuCrO x , which is a wide bandgap (3.2 eV) p-type delafossite material with high optical transparency in the visible region. [27,28] Crystal structure of CuCrO 2 has two stacking forms for the CrO 6 octahedron along the c-axis, such as 3 R and 2 H forms; out of this, 3 R-CuCrO 2 is more stable and has better p-type conductivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bifacial CdTe Solar Cells with Copper Chromium Oxide Back‐Buffer Layer

et al. 2022

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Bifacial solar cells have the potential to maintain energy output higher than monofacial devices under unfavorable weather conditions. A transparent back‐buffer layer which can passivate the interface and improve the minority carrier lifetime is critical in CdTe‐based bifacial devices. Herein, solution‐processed CuxCryOz as a promising back‐buffer for CdTe/CdS solar cells is demonstrated. The carrier lifetimes measured at the front and back of the device are 31.2 and 3.1 ns, respectively, which correspond to an increase of ≈38% and 138%, respectively, compared to the reference device. This dramatic improvement in lifetime results in a 100% increase in short‐circuit current measured with backside illumination. The best bifacial device has efficiencies 7.6% and 12.5%, respectively, from back and front illumination, yielding a bifaciality factor of 0.60.

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“…A prominent target for bifacial dyesensitized photovoltaic cells has been to pursue high energy transformation efficiency without compromising effectiveness or productivity concerning its cost [6 -9]. GaAs thin film [10][11][12] and CdTe [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] are increase attention as they provide a technically and economically convincing alternative concept. The weight of bifacial photovoltaic is considered too low, flexible, and semi-transparent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Optimum Installation and Power Injection Parameters for a Bifacial Rooftop System

Mhaske²,

Lenze³

et al. 2021

IJRER

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Bifacial Photovoltaics has gained significant traction in recent years due to a combination of superior radiation capture capabilities and reducing costs. This study builds on a prior 1.07 MW (DC) solar system analysis for Effat University Campus in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by adding a Bifacial system. The paper describes a modeling methodology focusing on critical parameters that affect bifacial gains, such as the solar system's tilt angle, surface albedo, and shading. The results have been summarized as sensitivities to changes in input variables such as the surface albedo with ceteris paribus assumption. This case study showed a change in surface albedo to increase the specific production from 1771 kWh/kW to 1829 kWh/kW suggesting an increase in bifacial gain of more than 3%.

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Enabling bifacial thin film devices by developing a back surface field using CuxAlOy

Cited by 36 publications

References 28 publications

Perovskite Solar Cells Go Bifacial—Mutual Benefits for Efficiency and Durability

Perovskite Solar Cells Go Bifacial—Mutual Benefits for Efficiency and Durability

Bifacial CdTe Solar Cells with Copper Chromium Oxide Back‐Buffer Layer

Assessment of Optimum Installation and Power Injection Parameters for a Bifacial Rooftop System

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