Specification of Micro-Nanoscale Radiative Patterns Using Inverse Analysis for Increasing Solar Panel Efficiency

Abstract

International audienceThis work proposes a comprehensive and efficient optimization approach for designing surface patterning for increasing solar panel absorption efficiency using near-field radiation effects. Global and local optimization methods, such as the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno quasi-Newton (BFGS-QN) and simulated annealing (SA), are employed for solving the inverse near-field radiation problem. In particular, a thin amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar panel with periodic silver nanowire patterning is considered. The design of the silver patterned solar panel is optimized to yield maximum enhancement in photon absorption. The optimization methods reproduce results found in the previous literature but with reduced computational expense. Additional geometric parameters, which are not discussed in previous work, are included in the optimization analysis, further allowing for increased absorption enhancement. Both the BFGS-QN and the SA methods give efficient results, providing designs with enhanced absorption

Statistical Analysis of Surface Nanopatterned Thin Film Solar Cells Obtained by Inverse Optimization

“…In this paper, we build upon the results of Refs. [23] and [24] and incorporate the effects of time variations in the solar irradiance, fabrication/structural errors and angle of incidence when optimally designed texture patterns are used. Our goal is to evaluate the sensitivity of the absorptivity parameters of the realized PV cell to those uncertainties.…”

“…In Refs. [23] and [25] for instance, a number of deterministic and stochastic search algorithms were employed to find optimum surface grating pattems for 2-D and 3-D a-Si thin film structures. These methods include the local quasi-Newton technique and the global random search methods, such as simulated annealing and Tabu search, as well as hybrid techniques that use a combination of global and local search techniques.…”

“…Examples of efforts reported in the literature along those lines are the work of Chen et al (see, e.g., Ref. [22] and the references therein) as well as the present authors' previous reports [23][24][25]. Both approaches are based on stochastic global optimization methods, with [22] emphasizing on differential evolution algorithms and [23][24][25] presenting variations of the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulated annealing (SA) technique.…”

“…[22] and the references therein) as well as the present authors' previous reports [23][24][25]. Both approaches are based on stochastic global optimization methods, with [22] emphasizing on differential evolution algorithms and [23][24][25] presenting variations of the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulated annealing (SA) technique. These results illustrate that with the use of proper numerical inverse optimization techniques, significant improvements can be obtained in the absorptivity characteristics of the designed surface nanotextures compared with previous exhaustive search approaches.…”

Thermal Radiative Properties of a SiC Grating on a Photonic Crystal

“…[32] to optimize the emissivity in a specified frequency range by tuning the values of A, /, dg, ds, and a2.i while the other parameters are kept unchanged. The results for the spectral-normal emissivity of the proposed structure for TM-wave are shown in Fig.…”