Periodic Upright Nanopyramids for Light Management Applications in Ultrathin Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Wang, Puqun; Liu, Zhe; Xu, Kaichen; Blackwood, Daniel John; Hong, Minghui; Aberle, Armin G.; Stangl, Rolf; Peters, Ian Marius

doi:10.1109/jphotov.2016.2641298

Cited by 28 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Many new architecture concepts of device architecture discussed in Section 2 can be utilized for thin-wafer-based PV modules without the efficiency penalty. With further advancement of new light management schemes, e.g., black silicon with nanoscale textures [57]- [60], the loss due to incomplete absorption in thin wafers can be reduced. In addition, innovations of new encapsulation materials could also enhance NIR light trapping at module level [61]- [63].…”

Section: Why Is Thin Si Not Here Yet? Challenges and Innovation Oppor...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting thin silicon for photovoltaics: a technoeconomic perspective

Liu

Sofia

Laine

et al. 2020

Energy Environ. Sci.

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100

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Crystalline silicon comprises 90% of the global photovoltaics (PV) market and has sustained a nearly 30% cumulative annual growth rate, yet comprises less than 2% of electricity capacity. To sustain this growth trajectory, continued cost and capital expenditure (capex) reductions are needed. Thinning the silicon wafer well below the industry-standard 160 µm, in principle reduces both manufacturing cost and capex, and accelerates economicallysustainable expansion of PV manufacturing. In this Analysis piece, we explore two questions surrounding adoption of thin silicon wafers: (a) what are the market benefits of thin wafers? (b) what are the technological challenges to adopt thin wafers? In this Analysis, we re-evaluate the benefits and challenges of thin Si for current and future PV modules using a comprehensive technoeconomic framework that couples device simulation, bottom-up cost modeling, and a sustainable cash-flow growth model. When adopting an advanced technology concept that features sufficiently good surface passivation, the same high efficiencies are achievable for both 50-µm wafers and 160-µm ones. We then quantify the economic benefits for thin Si wafers in terms of poly-Si-to-module manufacturing capex, module cost, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for utility PV systems. Particularly, LCOE favors thinner wafers for all investigated device architectures, and can potentially be reduced by more than 5% from the value of 160-µm wafers. With further improvements in module efficiency, an advanced device concept with 50-µm wafers could potentially reduce manufacturing capex by 48%, module cost by 28%, and LCOE by 24%. Furthermore, we apply a sustainable growth model to investigate PV deployment scenarios in 2030. It is found that the state-of-theart industry concept could not achieve the climate targets even with very aggressive financial scenarios, therefore the capex reduction benefit of thin wafers is advantageous to facilitate faster PV adoption. Lastly, we discuss the remaining technological challenges and areas for innovation to enable high-yield manufacturing of high-efficiency PV modules with thin Si wafers. Broader ContextClimate change is among the greatest challenges facing humankind today. Given the urgency of transitioning to a carbon-neutral energy system, we need to accelerate the deployment of existing renewable technology in the near term. With rapid technological progress and cost decline, silicon photovoltaics (PV) modules is a proven technology to be deployed to a multi-terawatt scale by 2030. Despite the high growth rate in the past decade, the capital-intense nature of silicon PV manufacturing hinders the sustainable growth of the industry. Today, the most significant contribution to capital expenditure (capex) of PV module fabrication still comes from silicon wafer itself. Reducing wafer thickness would have a proportionate effect on wafer and poly capex; however, wafer thickness reduction has been much slower than anticipated. This study revisits the concept of wafer thinning...

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Section: Why Is Thin Si Not Here Yet? Challenges and Innovation Oppor...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting thin silicon for photovoltaics: a technoeconomic perspective

Liu

Sofia

Laine

et al. 2020

Energy Environ. Sci.

Self Cite

100

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“…Solar energy is another rich source, usually relying on photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity . However, there are several intrinsic limitations, such as uncertain of climate or failure to connect sensors with the solar cells.…”

Section: Multifunctional Skin‐interfaced Wearable Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifunctional Skin‐Inspired Flexible Sensor Systems for Wearable Electronics

Takei

2019

Adv Materials Technologies

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489

332

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Skin‐inspired wearable devices hold great potentials in the next generation of smart portable electronics owing to their intriguing applications in healthcare monitoring, soft robotics, artificial intelligence, and human–machine interfaces. Despite tremendous research efforts dedicated to judiciously tailoring wearable devices in terms of their thickness, portability, flexibility, bendability as well as stretchability, the emerging Internet of Things demand the skin‐interfaced flexible systems to be endowed with additional functionalities with the capability of mimicking skin‐like perception and beyond. This review covers and highlights the latest advances of burgeoning multifunctional wearable electronics, primarily including versatile multimodal sensor systems, self‐healing material‐based devices, and self‐powered flexible sensors. To render the penetration of human‐interactive devices into global markets and households, economical manufacturing techniques are crucial to achieve large‐scale flexible systems with high‐throughput capability. The booming innovations in this research field will push the scientific community forward and benefit human beings in the near future.

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“…In particular, the fabrication of micro-nano structures on the silicon surface is a popular route for surface modification [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. For example, pyramidal structures effectively reduce the surface's reflectivity and improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, which is attributed to their ability to collect and capture light through internal reflection [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-Low-Reflective, Self-Cleaning Surface by Fabrication Dual-Scale Hierarchical Optical Structures on Silicon

Duan

Zhang

et al. 2021

Coatings

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An integrated functional anti-reflective surface is of great significance for optical and optoelectronic devices. Hence, its preparation has attracted great attention from many researchers. This study combined wet alkaline etching approaches and reactive ion etching (RIE) techniques to create a dual-scale hierarchical anti-reflective surface on silicon substrates. The effect of RIE time on surface morphology and optical performance was investigated using multiple characterization forms. The optimal parameters for the fabrication of dual-scale structures by the composite etching process were explored. The silicon surface with a dual-scale structure indicated excellent anti-reflective properties (minimum reflectivity of 0.9%) in the 300 to 1100 nm wavelength range. In addition, the ultra-low reflection characteristic of the surface remained prominent at incident light angles up to 60°. The simulated spectra using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method agreed with the experimental results. Superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning were also attractive properties of the surface. The functionally integrated surface enables silicon devices to have broad application prospects in solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs), photoelectric detectors, and outdoor equipment.

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Periodic Upright Nanopyramids for Light Management Applications in Ultrathin Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Cited by 28 publications

References 56 publications

Revisiting thin silicon for photovoltaics: a technoeconomic perspective

Revisiting thin silicon for photovoltaics: a technoeconomic perspective

Multifunctional Skin‐Inspired Flexible Sensor Systems for Wearable Electronics

Ultra-Low-Reflective, Self-Cleaning Surface by Fabrication Dual-Scale Hierarchical Optical Structures on Silicon

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