Showing papers in "Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells in 2011"

TL;DR: In this article, the development of kesterite-based Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) thin-film solar cells, in which the indium and gallium from CIGSSe are replaced by the readily available elements zinc and tin, is reviewed.

TL;DR: Procedures for testing organic solar cell devices and modules with respect to stability and operational lifetime are described and generally agreed test conditions and practices are generally agreed to allow ready comparison between laboratories and to help improving the reliability of reported values.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors deal with the preparation, characterization and determination of thermal energy storage properties of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/diatomite composite as a novel form-stable composite phase change material (PCM).

TL;DR: The main contribution of this work is the simplification of the current equation, in which only four parameters are required, compared to six or more in the previously developed two-diode models.

TL;DR: A multitude of advancements have been developed during this period, as the topic of concentrated solar power is becoming more mainstream as mentioned in this paper, including reflector and collector design and materials, heat absorption and transport, power production and thermal storage.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the development status of high-efficiency heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) solar cells at SANYO Electric, and they have achieved a quite high open circuit voltage (Voc) of 743mV, and a high conversion efficiency of 22.8% using only a 98-μm-thick substrate.

TL;DR: In this paper, the atomic structure of the potential photovoltaic materials Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) and CZTSe 4 was discussed on the basis of a structural analysis of neutron powder diffraction data refined by the Rietveld analysis.

TL;DR: In this article, an alternative ITO-free transparent anode based on solution processed high conductive PEDOT:PSS in combination with a printed current collecting grid was developed.

TL;DR: In this paper, thermal properties of carbon nanofiber (CNF) and carbon nanotube (CNT) filled phase change materials (soy wax and paraffin wax) were studied experimentally, aiming to improve their thermal conductivities.

TL;DR: In this paper, a life cycle analysis was performed on a full roll-to-roll coating procedure used for the manufacture of flexible polymer solar cell modules, and the results showed that an Energy Pay-Back Time (EPBT) of 2.02 years can be achieved for an organic solar module of 2% efficiency, which could be reduced to 1.35 years, if the efficiency was 3%.

TL;DR: In this paper, the properties of CZTS thin films were investigated as a function of the chemical composition of the sol-gel solutions used, and the results showed that the band gaps of these Cu-poor thin films are blue shifted.

TL;DR: In this paper, an upper bound for the potential power loss of PV modules due to micro-cracks in the solar cells was derived by simulating the impact of inactive solar cell fragments on the power of a common PV module type and PV array.

TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of stacking order on the structural, morphological, chemical, electrical and optical properties of CZTS thin films were investigated using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and Xray photo-electron spectroglobal imaging.

TL;DR: In this article, simple analytical and statistical models for the evaluation of the temperature of PV-modules from climatic data (ambient temperature, global solar irradiation, and wind speed) are investigated.

TL;DR: In this paper, an experimental evaluation of the effects of convection and crystalline segregation in a phase change materials (PCM) as a function of efficiency of heat transfer within the finned PV/PCM system is presented.

TL;DR: A seasonal chemical heat store based on the hydration/dehydration cycle of a magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) composite material has been developed in this article, where the active material needs to be dispersed to optimize the gas-solid reaction kinetics and the thermal power released/absorbed.

TL;DR: In this article, the feasibility of using metal foams and expanded graphite to enhance the heat transfer capability of phase change materials in high temperature thermal energy storage systems is investigated, and the results show that heat transfer can be significantly enhanced by both metal foam and expandable graphite, thereby reducing the charging and discharging period.

TL;DR: In this article, shape-stabilized phase change materials (PCMs) composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and mesoporous active carbon (AC) were prepared by a blending and impregnating method.

TL;DR: In this paper, a composite phase change materials (PCM) for latent heat thermal energy storage was made by mixing two different kinds of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets into paraffin wax.

TL;DR: In this paper, the inverted configuration OSCs with high work function metal as top cathode could improve OSC's lifetime, i.e., protecting cells from the damage by oxygen and moisture in air.

TL;DR: In this paper, a simple physics approach was proposed to predict the behavior of organic solar cells under various illumination intensities through electrical modeling and the combination of simulation and modeling allows to define a set of design rules for OPVs under low light illumination.

TL;DR: In this article, a counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells was demonstrated using the graphene-based multi-walled carbon nanotubes (GMWNTs) structure.

TL;DR: The simulation model of an artificial neural network (ANN) based maximum power point tracking controller has been developed and the accuracy of the ANN tracker has been validated by employing different test data sets.

TL;DR: In this article, an all-solution process was developed to prepare VO2-based double-layered films containing SiO2 and TiO2 antireflection layers.

TL;DR: In this paper, a flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films printed onto a flexible PET substrate using a gravure printing method was investigated using a lab-made bending test system.

TL;DR: In this paper, the optical characterization of a new fluid consisting of single-wall carbon nanohorns and ethylene glycol for solar energy applications was reported, which showed that nanohorn spectral features are far more favorable than those of amorphous carbon for the specific application.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discussed the defect responsible for Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, and concluded that the recombination is not likely the source of the open circuit voltage loss, however, inhomogeneities of the band gap can be excluded because they are too small to have significant influence.

TL;DR: In this article, a series of polyethylene glycol (PEG) based phase change composites with different mesoporous materials (active carbon and silica molecular sieves) were prepared by a simple approach Various characterization techniques were carried out to investigate the properties of the composites.

TL;DR: In this article, the optical absorption coefficient of thin film and bulk Cu2O at room temperature is obtained from an accurate analysis of their transmittance and reflectance spectra, together with low temperature data reported in the literature, using an analytical expression to assess and quantify the role of different absorption mechanisms.

TL;DR: In this article, the results of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) indicate that these CZTS thin films are Cu-rich and S-poor.