As the efficiency of perovskite silicon tandem solar cells is increasing, the upscaling for industrial production is coming into focus. Spatially resolved, quantitative, fast, and reliable contactless measurement techniques are demanded for quality assurance and to pinpoint the cause of performance losses in perovskite silicon tandem solar cells. In this publication we present a measurement method based on spectrally integrated photoluminescence (PL) imaging to extract subcell-selective implied open-circuit ( i V oc ) images from monolithic perovskite silicon tandem solar cells. We validate the approach using spectrally resolved absolute PL measurements based on an integrating sphere for the perovskite top cell and PL-calibrated carrier lifetime images for the silicon bottom cell. Additionally, V oc measurements of solar cells with low contact losses are used to validate the new measurement technique. We find a good agreement of the i V oc images with the validating measurements with a maximum deviation of well below 1 % compared to the validation measurements.

Increased deployment of solar PV enables the transition to decarbonized energy systems, capable of tempering the dire consequences of global warming. Even though backsheets are very important regarding lifetime energy yield of the PV module, the environmental impacts of their production, use and end-of-life (EoL) processing are largely neglected. As part of a recently finalized Dutch national project EXTENSIBLE (Energy yield assessment of neXT gENeration and SustaInaBLE backsheets) the environmental impacts for 7 different polymeric backsheets have been evaluated via a life cycle assessment (LCA). The selected backsheets include 3 traditional polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - based backsheets with a fluorine containing outer layer (two white pigmented and one fully transparent). The other 4 backsheets are novel high-performance polyolefin (PO) -based backsheets, manufactured by Endurans Solar ™, also including one transparent version. From results of the LCA it is concluded that in comparison with PET-based backsheets and fluoropolymer containing backsheets, PO-based backsheets perform best in terms of energy yield, reliability and environmental impacts. The production of fluoropolymer- and PET-based backsheets cause substantial environmental impacts, especially regarding climate change and ozone depletion. This conclusion is corroborated by recent literature data. Regarding the EoL phase, it was shown from a theoretical assessment that pyrolysis of the spent backsheets potentially leads to much lower GWP when compared to incineration, especially for the PO-based backsheets. Incineration of the shredded and solid backsheet material causes direct emissions of CO 2 with a limited heat recovery potential only. Deploying pyrolysis for spent PO-based backsheets significantly improves their life-time GWP per kWh produced. Pyrolysis offers the possibility to recover a large part of the polyolefin as an usable pyrolysis oil that might serve as feedstock for chemicals or as transportable liquid fuel for the generation of process heat in recovery boilers, thereby avoiding the use of new fossil resources. EoL pyrolysis (or incineration) of fluoropolymer-based backsheets is problematic due to the presence of fluorinated hydrocarbons, leading to corrosive and/or toxic products.

High levels of airborne dust, frequent dust storms and infrequent rain events are some of the reasons why soiling can drastically reduce the energy yield of photovoltaic modules in desert areas. There are ongoing and increasing efforts to identify appropriate and economically feasible strategies that can be used to mitigate soiling in deserts. Both innovative tracking with adapted resting positions during night and anti-soiling coatings (ASC) are considered as potential solutions to reduce soiling. In this study, the individual mitigation potential of both ASC and tracking routines as well as the combination of the two approaches are investigated. For this, outdoor exposure tests were carried out in desert region of Saudi Arabia. Coated and uncoated glass samples were tested in different tilt configurations: fixed, 1-axis tracking with horizontal stowage (facing the sky) and 1-axis tracking with vertical stowage during the night. Both methods indicate significant soiling reductions, especially for the combined solution of ASC and tracking with vertical night stowage, where soiling losses can be reduced by up to 85%. In addition, it has been shown that by adapting tracking, the relative ASC performance can be improved compared to fixed tilt or standard 1-axis tracking scenarios.

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) has attracted tremendous attention as a promising alternative to silicon wafer-based technologies for building integration. While significant progress has been achieved on the power conversion efficiency of OPV technologies, their field stability is rarely studied. This work investigates the field performance and reliability of a large-area OPV module designed for BIPV application in the tropical region of Singapore for 4.5 years. The device suffered more than 14% degradation in power at the standard testing conditions from the initial performance, largely due to losses in fill factor (-12% relative). During the monitoring period, it exhibited comparable performance to more conventional silicon PV technologies, with an average specific energy yield of about 4 kWh/kWp/day and an average performance ratio of 0.96. Excellent performance at low light conditions was also observed. However, its field performance was heavily impacted by soiling, which typically led to a 5 to 10% loss in the current output after several months. Further, the device’s outdoor performance also showed a three-stage degradation process, including (1) an initial slow degradation in the first two years (about -1%/year), (2) a stable period with negligible performance loss from year 2 to year 3.5 and (3) a rapid degradation in the last year (about -5%/year).

With the improvement of surface passivation, bulk recombination is becoming an indispensable and decisive factor to assess the limiting efficiency ( η lim ) of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. In simultaneous consideration of surface and bulk recombination, a modified model of η lim   evaluation is developed. Surface recombination is directly depicted with contact selectivity while bulk recombination is revised on the aspects of ideality factor and wafer thickness. The η lim of cutting-edge photovoltaic technologies, double-side tunneling-oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) and silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells, are numerically simulated using the new model as 28.73% and 29.00%, respectively. Hybrid solar cells consisting of n-type TOPCon contact and p-type SHJ contact can approach an η lim as high as 29.18% at the optimal wafer thickness ( W opt ) of 103 μm . Our results are instructive in accurately assessing efficiency potential and accordingly optimizing design strategies of c-Si solar cells.

STC power control of PV modules supply requires testing large samples of modules with low uncertainty. This paper analyses the feasibility of outdoor measurements with the modules kept at their operating positions. The classical procedure of recording I-V curves and translating them to STC in accordance with IEC 60891 using the cell temperature directly observed at a few points of the rear of the module entails uncertainties larger than 3% (k=2), which is too much for this procedure being accepted in quality controls with contractual consequences. A convenient procedure for overcoming this barrier consists in comparing the I-V curves of a tested and a reference module of the same type, both working under the same operating conditions. The latter is mostly secured if they are in adjacent positions. However, when the procedure is applied to large samples of PV modules kept in their operating position, the distance between both modules can reach tens of meters and significant inter-module temperature differences can arise. An artifice for counterbalancing these differences consists of estimating the temperature of the tested module and the “true” temperature of the reference module, as deduced from the V OC measurement, by the temperature difference observed at their respective back-sheets in a central position. This allows the measured power values to be corrected and provides clues to estimating the uncertainty of the results. This procedure has been applied in seven testing campaigns, carried out at commercial PV plants. Dedicated instrumentation, based on two radio linked I-V tracers, allowing the simultaneous measurement of the I-V curves and of the temperature at the centres of the reference and the tested modules, has been developed for that. The resulting uncertainties are slightly larger than those corresponding to high-quality solar simulators, but still low enough for dealing, in practice, with strict quality control requirements.

Single junction crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells are reaching their practical efficiency limit while perovskite/c-Si tandem solar cells have achieved efficiencies above the theoretical limit of single junction c-Si solar cells. Next to low-thermal budget silicon heterojunction architecture, high-thermal budget carrier-selective passivating contacts (CSPCs) based on polycrystalline-SiO x (poly-SiO x) also constitute a promising architecture for high efficiency perovskite/c-Si tandem solar cells. In this work, we present the development of c-Si bottom cells based on high-temperature poly-SiO x CSPCs and demonstrate novel high-efficiency four-terminal (4T) and two-terminal (2T) perovskite/c-Si tandem solar cells. First, we tuned the ultra-thin, thermally grown SiO x. Then we optimized the passivation properties of p-type and n-type doped poly-SiO x CSPCs. Here, we have optimized the p-type doped poly-SiO x CSPC on textured interfaces via a two-step annealing process. Finally, we integrated such bottom solar cells in both 4T and 2T tandems, achieving 28.1% and 23.2% conversion efficiency, respectively.

In recent years, developing dopant-free carrier-selective contacts, instead of heavily doped Si layer (either externally or internally), for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have attracted considerable interests with the aims to reduce parasitic light absorption and fabrication cost. However, the stability still remains a big challenge for dopant-free contacts, especially when thermal treatment is involved, which limits their industrial adoption. In this study, a perovskite material ZnTiO 3 combining with an ultrathin (~1 nm) SiO 2 film and Al layer is used as an electron-selective contact, forming an isotype heterojunction with n-type c-Si. The perovskite/c-Si heterojunction solar cells exhibit a performance-enhanced effect by post-metallization annealing when the annealing temperature is 200-350 °C. Thanks to the post-annealing treatment, an impressive efficiency of 22.0% has been demonstrated, which is 3.5% in absolute value higher than that of the as-fabricated solar cell. A detailed material and device characterization reveal that post annealing leads to the diffusion of Al into ZnTiO 3 film, thus doping the film and reducing its work function. Besides, the coverage of SiO 2 is also improved. Both these two factors contribute to the enhanced passivation effect and electron selectivity of the ZnTiO 3-based contact, and hence improve the cell performance.

The present article discusses the investigation of CuIn 1-xGa xS 2 (CIGS) thin films for photovoltaic applications. For decades, a Cu-rich composition has been used to create solar cells with efficiencies of up to 13.5%; however, interest in chalcopyrite sulfide has recently been revived due to its high and adjustable bandgap, making it a serious candidate as a top cell in tandem configurations. Although chalcopyrite selenides share many properties with CIGS thin films, crucial differences have been reported. To further understand these materials, we studied more than 500 samples of absorbers and resulting solar cells. First, we found that the compositional window for obtaining single-phase CIGS thin films with a 3-stage co-evaporation process is very narrow. Second, we reported that a combination of low copper content and sodium addition during growth is required to maximize the Photoluminescence intensity ( i.e. to minimize the absorber-related open-circuit voltage losses). Finally, we showed that solar cell performance and stability depend not only on absorber quality but also on phenomena at interfaces (absorber/buffer and grain boundaries). Altogether, we formulate growth recommendations for the manufacture of stable CIGS/CdS solar cells with state-of-the-art efficiency.

Multijunction solar cells offer a path to very high conversion efficiency, exceeding 60% in theory. Under ideal conditions, efficiency increases monotonically with the number of junctions. In this study, we explore technical and economic mechanisms acting on tandem solar cells. We find that these mechanisms produce limitations that are the more pronounced the greater the number of junction is and, hence, limit the ideal number of junctions, as well as the corresponding efficiencies. Spectral variations induce current losses in series-connected tandem solar cells. For Denver, we find that these losses reduce achievable harvesting efficiencies to 51% for non-concentrated light, and that they restrict the ideal number of junctions to less than nine. Independently operated solar cells suffer from optical losses with similar consequences. Optical efficiencies of 99% restrict the ideal number of junctions to below ten, and reduce achievable efficiencies by more than 10%. Only architectures with a sequential cell illumination are more resilient to these losses. Restricting available materials reveals that a sufficiently low band gap for the bottom cell of 0.9 eV or below is expedient to realize high efficiencies. Economic considerations show that five junctions or less are economically ideal for most conceivable applications.