XEIET132 Complete Presentation 0210

Solar Cells
Course Overview
Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies
Table of Contents
1. What solar cells can do and how good they need to be to compete economically
2. The science of solar cells
3. Preview of the different kinds of solar cells
4. Silicon solar cells
5. Conventional thin-film solar cells (CdTe and CIGS)
6. Gallium arsenide solar cells
7. Multijunction solar cells
8. Organic solar cells
9. Perovskite solar cells
10. Trends in the solar cell industry and forecast for the future
Using the slides

The numbers and figures in the slides will be updated more frequently than
the video, so please download the slides.
Introduction to Solar Cells

Part 1
The energy problem

The worlds population uses about 15 TW of power today.
We probably need to generate ~ 30 TW of power in 2050.
If we do not dramatically reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide, the average
temperature of the planet will probably rise by several degrees.
A renewable energy economy
M.H. Hoffert et al. Science 298 (2002) p. 981.
Why solar cells are likely to provide a significant

fraction of our power
We need ~ 30 TW of power, the sun gives us 120,000 TW. We only need to
cover 1 % of the land to generate all of our energy.
Solar cells are safe and have few non-desirable environmental impacts.
Using solar cells instead of burning coal to generate electricity is a much
easier way to reduce carbon emissions than replacing gasoline in vehicles.
Solar cells provide electricity exactly when we need it the most (hot sunny
days when people run their air conditioners).
Rapid increase in installations

A typical coal-fired power
plant generates 1 GW.
SEIA & GTM U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2014 Year-in-Review. March 2015
But further innovation needed to reach Sunshot

goals
SEIA & GTM U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2014 Year-in-Review. March 2015
The three big photovoltaic markets
Residential Rooftop
Commercial Rooftop
Utility scale
power plants
A typical home system

Many families choose to put enough modules on their roof to provide 3 kW of
power.
The sun provides 1 kW/m2, so with 15 % efficient cells, they need 20 m2 of cells.
The modules are connected to an inverter, which
converts the DC electricity into AC electricity.
In remote locations, people charge up batteries
directly.
In most states people are allowed to run their
meter backwards and then take electricity back from
the grid later on when they need it. This effectively
provides 100 % efficient energy storage.
from Sharp
The three big photovoltaic markets
Residential Rooftop
Commercial Rooftop
Utility scale
power plants
Introduction to Solar Cells

Part 2
Cost metrics
The price of a module is often expressed in $/Wpeak. The cost of the

panel is divided by the wattage that is produced in full sunlight at noon.
The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is expressed in $/kW-hour and is the

total cost over the lifetime of the projects divided by the total energy
produced. LCOE includes the interest paid on loans.
The $/W metric is used when describing modules because one cannot
calculate the LCOE without knowing where the panel will be deployed.
LCOE is used to make comparisons to other sources of electricity.
It is roughly accurate to say that $1/W total installed cost = $0.05/kW-hour.
Calculated Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for

photovoltaics systems in the United States
Ongoing NREL Analysis

Do Not Cite or Distribute Without
Permission
06/15/2015
Compare: LCOE with x% ITC(=LCx) vs. Comparison Price (=CP)
LCOE = levelized cost of electricity

LCOE30 includes the 30 % rebate from the federal government that exists until the end of 2016.
LCOE10 includes a 10 % rebate from the federal government.
Analysis from Stefan Reichelstein in the Business School at Stanford (September 2015)
The grid parity cost depends on location
The prices are out of date, but the solar yield isnt.
Utility Dispatch Curve - NorthEast
Dispatch curve utilities turn on cheapest variable cost power first

Cost of the highest needed to meet demand sets the market price
Solar does not have to compete with sources that must run 24 hrs/day
Source: Credit Suisse First Boston
Storage is not needed when < 20 % of the electricity in a region is

generated by solar if the grid is properly designed.
Hawai and Germany are the first places to have to figure out what to do
when the grid has too much intermittent solar electricity.
Installed PV cost breakdown
The cost of the modules has come down dramatically. Now we need to
reduce the cost of installation, including permitting.
Tracking the Sun VIII (LBNL report 2015)
10
Key points
The solar cell market is likely to grow substantially as people take avoiding
climate change more seriously and the price of solar drops.
The point at which solar is competitive with conventional grid electricity
depends on the size of the installation, the annual amount of sunlight
available, the local cost of conventional electricity, the time of day and the
need to back up an intermittent source. Solar is already competitive at
providing < 20 % of the electricity needs in some locations and is within a
factor of 2-3 from being competitive everywhere. Storage is needed to
make solar competitive at providing a greater fraction of the electricity.
The Science of Solar Cells
11
Semiconductors
Energy
Conduction band
Energy Band Gap
Valence band
Energy
Energy is stored when light is absorbed
electron
+ hole
Conduction band
Valence band
12
Solar radiation spectrum
It is hard to capture all of the solar energy because the photons have
different energies, which are inversely related to the wavelength.
Source: Wikipedia
A hydropower analogy
A reservoir must be low enough to collect a lot of water, but high enough to
generate a lot of power.
13
Optimizing the band gap to maximize the efficiency

Below band gap
photons not absorbed
40
35
Sources of energy loss
Efficiency, %
30
Thermalization of excess
energy
CB
25
20
15
VB
10
5
0
1
Bandgap Energy, eV
31% is the Shockley-Queisser limit on efficiency for one pn junction
Conventional p-n junction photovoltaic (solar) cell

There is an electric field at
the pn junction that guides
electrons to one electrode
and holes to the other.
If a charge carrier is created
away from the junction, it can
diffuse to the junction and
then be pulled by the electric
field if it does not recombine
first.
14
Major sources of efficiency loss

Many photons have energy < the band gap energy and are not absorbed.
Carriers excited up into the bands give off energy as they relax to the band
edge.
Some electrons and holes recombine with each other and are not collected at
the electrodes.
Bulk and surface recombination
Radiative
Shockley-Read-Hall (trap
assisted)
EC
EV
(1)
EC
(2)
ET
EV
Surface
EC
EV
15
Requirements for good cells

We need a band gap around 1.4 eV.
We need to avoid having impurities that promote non-radiative recombination.
We need to minimize surface area and passivate dangling bonds at the
surface to avoid surface recombination.
We usually need to have single crystals or at least films with large crystals to
avoid recombination at crystalline grain boundaries.
The Reflectivity Problem

At normal incidence, the reflectivity is
Material
n at 1.5 eV
n n
1
R s
n n
1
s
Si
3.44
30 %
Ge
36 %
GaAs
3.6
32 %
SiO2
1.46
3.5 %
Typical organic
semiconductors
1.6-2.0
5-11 %
16
Anti-Reflective Coatings Single Quarter Wave Film

The transmitted portion reflects off the
silicon and passes back out of the film ,
destructively interfering with the reflected
portion of the incident light.
out of phase
1
3
2
n1
Film
4 n1
ns
Silicon
100 % transmis sion at

peak frequency
Destructive interference kills the

reflection if the coating is /4n thick.
With one layer, it isnt possible to
prevent reflection over all wavelengths.
With multiple layers, one can do better.
Anti-Reflective Coatings Simulation Results

Results for optimum ARCs using MgF2, Al2O3, ZnS, and TiO2
< 2% reflectance over
broad range with 2
layers
Single layer
Double layer
Triple layer
~34% reflectance with

no ARC
17
Light trapping conclusions

It is important to avoid reflections.
One must either make the film thick enough to absorb the light or find a way to
scatter (trap) it in the film.
Preview of the Different Kinds of

Solar Cells
18
There are many approaches to making PV cells and

experts do not agree on which one is the best
National
Renewable
Energy
Laboratory
20x-100x
500x
Cu(In,Ga)Se2 ~ 1-2 um
c-Si ~ 180 um
Best Research-Cell Efficiencies
National Renewable Energy

Laboratory
Downloaded in October 2015 from http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/images/efficiency_chart.jpg
19
2010 Production by cell type
Since 2010, Silicon has climbed to over 90 % and Thin-film Si has declined.
Source: PV News, May 2011
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Needs for total installed $1/W PV
Source: US DOE report $1/W Photovoltaic Systems, August 2010.
20
Silicon Solar Cells

Part 1
Why Silicon?
Si has a band gap of 1.1 eV, which is not far from the optimal value of 1.4 eV
for a single junction cell.
Si is great for MOSFETs because its surface is easily passivated by thermal
oxidation. Massive amounts of research have been done on silicon. The solar
cell research community borrowed all of the methods for making wafers,
doping, patterning and making electrical contacts. Si is perhaps the best
understood material in the world.
Si is very stable.
Si is the second most abundant element in the earths crust.
21
Silicon PV
Silicon Feedstock
Ingot Growth
Photovoltaic System
Slicing Wafers
Module Encapsulation
Cell Fabrication
Solar cell loss mechanisms in a typical commonly

manufactured multicrystalline Si cell
Reflection Loss
1.8%
0.4%
1.54%
I2R Loss
0.4%
0.3%
3.8%
Recombination
Losses
2.0%
1.4% Back Light
Absorption
Limit Cell Efficiency
2.6%
Layers
1.) Antireflection coating
(SiO2 or Si3N4)
2.) n+ Si
3.) p Si
29.0%
Total Losses
-14.3%
Generic Cell
Efficiency
14.7%
From Dick Swanson (Sunpower)
22
The benefits of surface texturing

1. Multiple absorption attempts at near-normal incidence
Air
Si
T1
T2
2. Smaller ray-interface angle at grazing incidence

R
Air
Journal of the
Electrochemical
Society 151 (6)
G412 (2004)
Si
T
3. The light travels a larger distance in the semiconductor
Simple Cell Technologies continue to improve

- 19.6% efficient planar cells on Czochralski silicon
Source: J-H Lai, IEEE PVSC, June 2011

23
Rear point contact cell
Introduced by Dick Swanson at Stanford in 1992 with an efficiency of 22%.

Front surface is textured and passivated.
Since there is no metal on top, there are no shadowing losses.
Nelson p. 196
SunPowers backside contact cell

Lightly doped front
diffusion
Reduces recombination
loss
Backside Mirror
Reduces back
light absorption
Causes light trapping
P+
Texture
Texture+ +SiO
Oxide
2 + ARC
N-type FZ Silicon 240 um thick
N-type
Silicon 270 um thick
reduces bulk recombination
N+
P+
Localized Contacts
Reduces contact
recombination loss
N+
P+
N+
Passivating
SiO2 layer
Reduces top
and bottom
recombination loss
Backside Gridlines
Eliminates shadowing
Thick, high-coverage
metal reduces resistance loss
24
SunPower cell loss mechanisms

0.5%
0.8%
Texture + Oxide
0.2%
1.0%
N-type Silicon 2700.2%
um thick
0.3%
0.2%
1.0%
I2R Loss
0.1%
Limit Cell Efficiency
29.0%
Total Losses
-4.4%
Enabled Cell Efficiency
24.6%
Aesthetic advantage of not having top contacts
SunPower
215 Watt Panel
Conventional
165 Watt Panel
25
Silicon Solar Cells

Part 2
Typical Si Module
Source of Figure: NREL
26
Cost analysis of Si Modules
LOS is line of
sight
Tonio Buonassisi et al., Energy and Env. Sci. 5 (2012) p. 5874.
Tonio Buonassisi et al., Energy and

Env. Sci. 5 (2012) p. 5874.
27
Tonio Buonassisi et al., Energy and Env. Sci. 5 (2012) p. 5874.
Thin Crystalline Silicon Cells
28
Conclusions on Silicon PV
Progress has been better than many expected. $0.5/W has been
achieved. Modules have 15-21 % efficiency.
Many believe this technology will never be beaten because
tremendous economies of scale have been reached.
The International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic
(http://www.itrpv.net/Reports/Downloads/2015/) provided details on
where leading companies expect the industry to go.
29
Conventional Thin Film Solar Cells
Thin Film Solar Cells

A thin film of semiconductor is deposited by low cost
methods.
Less material is used.
Cells can be flexible and integrated directly into roofing
material.
Metal
P-type CdTe
N-type CdS
Transparent Conducting Oxide
Glass Superstrate
3~8 um
0.1 um
0.05 um
~1000 um
30
Best Research-Cell Efficiencies
Downloaded in October 2015 from http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/images/efficiency_chart.jpg
CdTe Solar Cell with CdS window layer

Back Contact: Cathode
Metal
Absorber layer
Window Layer
P-type CdTe
N-type CdS
Transparent Conducting Oxide
Glass Superstrate
Front Contact: Anode
3~8 um
0.1 um
0.05 um
~1000 um
Incident Light
CdS: tends to be n-type, large bandgap(2.42eV)
31
Cadmium Telluride Solar Cells

glass
Direct bandgap, Eg=1.45eV

Good efficiency (Record:21.5%)
High module production speed
Long term stability (20 years)
CdS/CdTe
Image from Rommel Noufi
Schematic from Bulent Basol
CdTe: Industrial Status

First Solar is the leader. In 2014 it took them 2.5 hours to make a 14 % module.
Average Manufacturing Cost
2006: $1.40/watt
2007: $1.23/watt
2008: $1.08/watt
2009: $0.87/watt
2010: $0.77/watt
2011: $0.74/watt
2012: $0.64/watt
2013: $0.53/watt
The energy payback time is 0.8 years.
In 2015, $0.42/watt has been achieved

in their Malaysian factory.
www.firstsolar.com; greentech media
32
Building Integrated PV
The DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle is installed and performs just

like a conventional shingle but with the added benefit of generating
electricity to offset your electricity bills.
For more information: Building integrated photovoltaic products: A state-of-the-art review
and future research opportunities, Jelle, Breivik and Rkenes, Solar Energy Materials
www.dowsolar.com
and Solar Cells, 100(2012) p. 69-96.
Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells
33
GaAs Cells
GaAs has an ideal band gap of 1.4 eV. 31 % efficiency is theoretically
possible.
Single crystal thin films are grown slowly on single crystal wafers.
The wafers and the slow growth are very expensive.
Alta Devices 28.2% efficient thin-film GaAs cell
Source: B. Kayes, IEEE PVSC, June 2011
34
Alta Devices New Record

A world record for single junction solar cells
Wafer record (NREL)
Alta Devices
Efficiency
25.1%
27.6%
Jsc (mA/cm2)
28.2
29.6
Voc (V)
1.022
1.107
FF
0.871
0.841
3.91
1.0
Area
(cm2)
As of June 2011, Alta had reached 28.2%

Size of a 4 wafer
They are flexible
Green et al., Prog. Photovoltaics, 19, 2011.
Is peeling cells from single crystal wafers the way to go?

The approach is very exciting, but quite challenging.
It is not clear that
high quality m-thick films of GaAs can be deposited at a reasonable price

there is a reliable way to peel off silicon
peeling can be incorporated into a high-throughput factory
a wafer can be reused >1000 times as Alta hopes
35
Cost summary, by step, for the reference case.

(20 substrate reusages, precursor utilizations of 30% for the III- source and 20% for the V- source, 15 m/hr GaAs, 70% effective cell yield )
Calculated Device Processing Costs for Single-Junction III-V's
500 MWP(DC) U.S. Facility, 25% Cell Efficiency, 70% Yield, 5 yrs Equipment Depreciation
$7.00
20 Reuses
Includes CMP
Depreciation
Costs
(Equipment
and Building)
Current US $/ Wp(DC)
$6.00
$5.00
Utility Costs
$4.00
Labor &
Maintenance
Costs
$3.00
2.5 m, 15 m/hr
8 substrates per reactor
$2.00
50 nm, 4 m/hr
Material Costs
$1.00
$0.00
100 nm
3 m/hr
NREL Cost Analysis.

9/13/2013
Unpack and MOVPE of MOVPE of
Clean
AlAs Release GaAs Front
Epiwafer
Layer
Contact
Layer
25 nm Au
MOVPE of
MOVPE of
MOVPE of MOVPE of
MOVPE of
Bottom
Dissolve
Etching of
Top
Edge
AlInGaP GaAs Emitter GaAs Base InGaP Back
AlGaAs
Metallization AlAs Release
GaAs
Metallization Isolation,
Window
Surface Field Buffer/ Back
Layer &
Contact
Test and Sort
Layer
Contact
Epitaxial Lift- Layer and
Layer
Off
ARC
TACT time in base layer step
Technology roadmap simulations for Single-Junction III-Vs

(GaAs Base)
Cost Model Results for Single-Junction (SJ) GaAs Solar Cells by ELO
$150 for 133 cm2 Substrates, 0.25 Laborers per Reactor, U.S. Manufacturing
All stated efficiencies are AM 1.5G and 1000 W/m2
$13.60/ W
$13.00
Improvements in Epi-Substrate Utilization

Increase Parent Epi-Substrate Reuses:
From 20 reuses to 500 reuses
Replace Chemical-Mechanical Repolishing
with Wet Bench Surface Preparation
Lower WACC:
From 9% to 7%
$12.00
$10.00
$9.00
$8.00
$7.00
$6.00
$5.00
$4.00
$4.60/ W
$3.00
$1.00
$0.00
Materials Costs for Device Layers
Increase Material Utilization:

From 30% to 50% for TMG, TMI, and TMA
From 20% to 30% for AsH3 and PH3
Reduce GaAs Base Thickness:
From 2.5 m to 1.5 m
Increase GaAs Deposition Rate:
From 15 m/hr to 20 m/hr
Secure Lower TMG Costs:
From $2.50/g to $2.00/g
Eliminate Au, Pt and/ or Pd from metallizations
Improve the Effective Cell Yield:
Novel Manufacturing Process*
From 70% to 95%
*Publicly Available Demonstrations Currently Unknown
Lower WACC:
Reduce Device Materials Costs by
From 7% to 6%
80% from the Long-Term Case for MOVPE
$2.40/ W
CMP
$2.00
Labor & Maintenance
Parent epi-substrate and

Chemical-Mechanical Polishing
Improvements in Cell Processing
Epi-Substrate
Current US $/ Wp(DC)
$11.00
Required margin to meet minimum

sustainable cell price
Depreciation
(Capital Equipment and Building)
Electricity
(e.g., different precursors and higher utilizations)
Reduce Cell Labor & Depreciation Expenses by

80% from the Long-Term Case for MOVPE
(e.g.,, higher dep. rates and larger batch sizes)
NREL Cost Analysis

9/23/2013
Reference Case (=25%)
Mid-Term (=27%)
$0.50/ W
(SunShot Adjusted Cell Price Goal)
Long-Term MOVPE (=29%) Long-Term SJ GaAs (=29%)
36
What can be done to bring the costs down?

Huge breakthrough in reducing materials deposition cost.
Light trapping to reduce film thickness.
Use of concentrators. With epitaxial liftoff, 500 X concentrators might not be
necessary. With 10 X concentrators, inexpensive trackers can be used.
37
GaAs cells have more than doubled the flight time of drones
GaAs is very attractive for portable applications.
Multijunction Solar Cells
38
Efficiency limits
Sources of energy loss
Thermalization of
excess energy
CB
Below band gap

photons not absorbed
VB
Increasing VOC and decreasing JSC
Triple-junction cells
The cells are in series; current is
passed through device

The current is limited by the layer that
produces the least current.

The voltages of the cells add
The higher band gap
1.7-1.9 eV
must see the light first.
1.3-1.4 eV
0.67 eV
Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 183516 (2007)
Emcore Corporation, May (2006)
39
4-junction cell with 44.7 % efficiency at 297 suns
F. Dimroth et al., Wafer bonded four-junction GaInP/GaAs//GaInAsP/GaInAs concentrator solar cells with 44.7% efficiency, Progress
in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 22, 277-282, 2014.
Multijunction cells are very expensive
Ga0.50In0.50P: Top Cell
These complex structures

are grown very slowly under
high vacuum.
37 % cells can be
purchased for $50,000/m2
Ga0.99In0.01As: Middle Cell
Ge substrate: Bottom Cell
Concentrating the light is

essential.
R.R. King; Spectrolab Inc., AVS 54th International

Symposium, Seattle 2007
40
Concentrating light
It is possible to track the sun and concentrate the light by 500X
Dish Shape
Sol Focus
Concentration only makes sense in sunny places
1 sun = 1 kW/m2
Concentration is only
effective for direct sunlight
Yearly Average Solar

Radiation Resource
[kWh/day-m2]
Seattle
Albuquerque
Fixed flat panel PV

@ Lat.
3.7
6.4
2-axis flat panel

PV
4.9
8.8
2.9
6.7
2-axis Conc. PV
Source: NREL Solar Radiation Data Manual
41
Very rough cost estimate of MJ cells with concentrators

The cost of multijunction solar cells is approximately $50,000/m2 ($5/cm2).
500X concentration reduces this to $100/m2.
Lets say the tracker and concentration cost $200/m2.
The sun gives us 1000 W/m2, but this is reduced to 850 W/m2 direct sunlight.
The best commercially available cells are 37% efficient at 25C, but this
decreases to 30% at typical operating temperatures. If the optical system is
75% efficient, then we are at 0.30 0.75 850 200 W/m2 of electrical
power.
At $200/m2 the capital cost would be $1.50/W.
This approach does not seem to be competitive and is not catching on, but
some still believe in it.
Organic Solar Cells
42
Organic semiconductors
Acceptor
Donor
OCH3
P3HT
PCBM
By organic, I mean that these molecules are carbon compounds.
Organic solar has potential to be a low cost source

of clean energy
Low-Cost Materials
Low-Cost Manufacturing
Low-Cost Installation
43
Organic tandems
Heliatek has achieved 12 % efficiency

L. Dou, Y. Yang et al., Nature Photonics 6 (2012) p. 180.
See also a review article by Brabec et al. Energy and Env. Sci. 2 (2009) p. 347-363.
G. Schwartz et al., Proc. of SPIE, 7416 (2009) p. 74160K-1
Outlook on reliability
> 20 year lifetime has been observed in an inert atmosphere; Encapsulation
will be needed.
A UV filter will probably be needed.
Many molecules are very stable in light.
Organic light-emitting diodes are now very stable.
It should be possible to make organic PV stable.
Review article: Krebs et al. Stability of Polymer Solar Cells, Adv. Mater. 24 (2012) p. 580-612.
44
Windows
Many office building have metal coated glass. Why not use solar cells instead?
Solar windows
The center pane could be replaced with a
semitransparent solar cell.
The cell is naturally encapsulated.
The added cost for inserted a solar cell
made with perovskites or organic
semiconductors could be < $15/m2.
One might argue that there are no added
installation costs.
Oxford PV, Next Energy and Ubiquitous
Energy are developing solar windows.
http://www.tristatewindowfactory.com/hopper-window.php
45
Will people buy their own solar paint and

spray it on their roof?
Perovskite Solar Cells
46
Lead halide perovskite efficiency soars

Record efficiency (%)
30
20
10
GaAs
c-Si
CIGS
CdTe
Perovskite
0
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Year
What are hybrid perovskites?

ABX3 Formula
MethylammoniumPbI3
Solution processable
Inexpensive input materials
Eames, C., et al. (2015). Ionic transport in hybrid lead iodide perovskite solar cells. Nature
Communications, 6(May), 7497.
47
How do perovskite solar cells work?

Direct bandgap
Long carrier diffusion lengths
P-I-N structure with heterojunction selective
contacts
-3.9eV
-4.2eV
Al
NTypeElectronContact
Perovskite
-4.2eV
PTypeHoleContact
ITO
Al
MAPbI3
PEDOT
-5.2eV
Glass
PC60BM
-5.4eV
Light
ITO
-4.8eV
-6.0eV
The perovskite is already an efficient solar cell technology

Material
Bandgap(eV)
qVoc(eV)
Energyloss(eV)
GaAs
1.43
1.122
0.31
Perovskite
(MAPbBr3)0.15(FaPbI3)0.85
1.55
1.19
0.36
Silicon
1.12
0.74
0.38
CIGS
~1.15
0.76
0.39
CdTe
1.49
0.88
0.61
aSilicon
1.55
0.90
0.65
The record certified perovskite efficiency is 20.1% on a 0.1cm2 cell

M. Green et al. Solar cell efficiency tables (version 46) 2015
J. P. C. Baena, A. Hagfeldt, et al., Energy & Environ. Sci. 2015
W. S. Yang, S. I. Seok, et al., Science 2015
48
Hybrid tandem architectures

Glass
Transparent Electrode
Top Cell
Top Cell
Bottom Cell
Tunnel Junction/ Recomb

Layer
Bottom Cell
Rear Contact
Rear Contact
4 Terminal
Easier prototyping
No current matching required
No tunnel junction or recombination layer required
2 Terminal
Fewer layers that parasitically absorb
Module fabrication easier
Skirt the limitations of the monolithic tandem by mechanical

stacking
Separate
Tandem
12.7%
12.7%
+
5.9%
17.0%
18.6%
mechanically stacked
CIGS image from Max Planck Institute
C.D. Bailie, M. G. Christoforo, J.P. Mailoa, M. D. McGehee, et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2015, 8 956
49
2-terminals coming out of the junction box of a

mechanically-stacked tandem
Flexibility to match voltage or current of the top and bottom strings

C.D. Bailie, M. G. Christoforo, J.P. Mailoa, M. D. McGehee, et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2015, 8 956
Monolithic integration of the perovskite cell onto a

silicon wafer
J.P. Mailoa, C. D. Bailie, M. M. McGehee, T. Buonassisi, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 2015, 106 121105
50
Single-junction perovskite module scaled process flow
10. Deposit
Al
C. D. Bailie, L. L. Tinker, M. Woodhouse, M. D. McGehee, et al. (Manuscript in Preparation)
Single-junction perovskite module step costs
If the perovskite reaches 20% efficiency, this areal cost ($55/m2) equates to $0.28/WDC
51
Perovskite compares favorably with CdTe
Mechanically-stacked tandem integration process flow
Use as top glass

sheet on Silicon
module
52
Double-junction perovskite/silicon module step costs
If the tandem reaches 30% efficiency, this areal cost ($105/m2) equates to $0.35/WDC
Single-junction and tandem architectures can both

reach target
53
Trends in the Solar Cell Industry and

Forecast for the Future
Part 1
1950s: Si solar cell invented
PV history
1970s: solar cells used in space, $80/W

1980s and 1990s: research slows, but SunPower and First Solar emerge
2002: Nanosolar, Konarka, Miasole, Solyndra
2005: VCs invest billions; 250 startups; approximate start of Chinese Si companies
2009: Chinese Si hits the market
2012: startups start to collapse; VC funding dries up
2015: $0.5/W panels reached. Near grid parity. Wealthy investors who care deeply
about renewable energy are carefully supporting the best companies.
54
Comparison to the computer industry

Computer companies made their product 2x as good each 1.5 years and
made lots of money at each step.
New solar technologies do not make money until they beat existing ways of
generating electricity.
While the profit margins are not as high, the ultimate societal need is very
great.
How will potential game changing technologies be financed?
Mikes prediction of the energy future

Natural gas will take over from coal. It generates about half as much CO2 as
coal. Eventually, however, we need even better carbon reductions.
There will be a tipping point at which most people will believe something has to
be done about climate change.
Solar and wind will grow in spurts.
Gas peaker plants will provide power when solar and winds intermittancy is a
problem.
Im not sure how energy will be stored. That problem is a really hard one to
solve.
The grid will get smarter.
55
4.2 GW PV in 200910+ GW in 2010

European 2009 New Installed and Retired Capacity (MW)
Source: EWEA, February 2010
Trends in the Solar Cell Industry and

Forecast for the Future
Part 2
56
PVs future
In late 2015 or 2016 demand will catch up with supply. PV panel
manufacturers will be more profitable.
There will be more vertically integrated companies that make panels, install
them and sell electricity. (e.g. Solar City, SunPower, First Solar)
India is leading the Solar Alliance. Many countries are installing solar now.
Solar will definitely grow by 20 X and maybe much more.
I think the technology will advance substantially beyond where it is today.
Modules will exceed 25 % efficiency, look better and be easier to install. They
might be thinner and flexible.
Potential game changing PV technologies

Si
Wafer liftoff
CdTe, CIGS
Perovskites
A breakthrough is needed to take the

efficiency up towards 25 %
GaAs
Could be very important if the costs come

down dramatically
Multijunction cells with

concentration
Much better concentrators that perhaps do not

require tracking might be needed
Organics
Could be very important for portable applications

and as part of hybrid tandems
Low-cost tandems
Research is just starting to pick up
57
Bringing down installation costs
Source: US DOE report $1/W Photovoltaic Systems,
Reducing the installation costs

Raise the efficiency of the cells to reduce the # that are needed
Reduce the weight
Make the cells flexible
Building integrated PV
Installers are learning how install more effectively
Focus on larger retail and utility-scale installations
Develop plug and play PV
Reduce the amount of marketing that is need to acquire customers
58
Solar City
Solar City leases PV systems to homeowners.
A lot of their savings comes from clever financing and finding ways to take
advantage of all government incentives.
They install multiple systems in one neighborhood at the same time.
They gather lots of data to see which systems perform well, enabling them to
build better systems.
Opportunities
Materials Scientists
Make better solar cells

Make better module packaging
Electrical Engineers
Make better inverters

Make it easier to plug solar into the grid
Mechanical Engineers
Make better manufacturing equipment

Enable use of thinner wafers
Automate module assembly
Chemical Engineers
Bring down costs of the purified

materials needed for PV
Geologists
Find more indium, tellurium and silver
59
Even more opportunities

Design
Make installation easier
Architects
Incorporate solar into buildings
Finance
Figure out how to help people manage

the up front costs (e.g. Solar City)
Marketing
Help people see that they can save

money and help the environment
Computer Science
Control theorists
Make the grid smarter so that it can handle

more power from an intermittent source
Electrochemists
Improve batteries and electrolyzers
Policies that would help the solar industry provide more

clean electricity
A revenue-neutral carbon tax
Time-of-use pricing with instant feedback to the customer

Easier permitting (residential permits can be up to $1/W, big projects can take
years to get approval)
Strongly incentivize installation of solar when buildings are built
Support the growth of a smarter electricity grid that can use power from variable
sources
Continued support for R and D to make $0.5/W modules with > 25 % efficiency
Continued subsidies for a few more years until the installations costs come down
60
Further reading
energy.gov/eere/sunshot. This website describes the Department of Energys
SunShot programs thoughts on everything that needs to be done to expand
the use of solar energy. Opportunities to obtain funding are posted there.
The Lawrence Berkelely Lab monitors the quantity, type, location and cost of
solar cell systems all over the United States and frequently updates their report
titled Tracking the Sun. (trackingthesun.lbl.gov)
MITs The Future of Solar Energy was posted on the internet on May 5,
2015. It thoroughly assesses the industry and makes recommendations for
researchers, policy makers and investors.
Thank you
I hope you have enjoyed the course and learned enough to go out and be apart
of transforming the way we obtain, store and use energy.
61

XEIET132 Complete Presentation 0210

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

XEIET132 Complete Presentation 0210

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Solar Cells

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Using the slides

Introduction to Solar Cells

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

The energy problem

A renewable energy economy

M.H. Hoffert et al. Science 298 (2002) p. 981.

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Why solar cells are likely to provide a significant

Rapid increase in installations

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

But further innovation needed to reach Sunshot

The three big photovoltaic markets

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

A typical home system

The three big photovoltaic markets

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Introduction to Solar Cells

The price of a module is often expressed in $/Wpeak. The cost of the

The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is expressed in $/kW-hour and is the

LCOE is used to make comparisons to other sources of electricity.

It is roughly accurate to say that $1/W total installed cost = $0.05/kW-hour.

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Calculated Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for

Ongoing NREL Analysis

Compare: LCOE with x% ITC(=LCx) vs. Comparison Price (=CP)

LCOE = levelized cost of electricity

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

The grid parity cost depends on location

Utility Dispatch Curve - NorthEast

Dispatch curve utilities turn on cheapest variable cost power first

Source: Credit Suisse First Boston

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Storage is not needed when < 20 % of the electricity in a region is

Installed PV cost breakdown

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

The Science of Solar Cells

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Energy is stored when light is absorbed

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Solar radiation spectrum

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Optimizing the band gap to maximize the efficiency

Sources of energy loss

31% is the Shockley-Queisser limit on efficiency for one pn junction

Conventional p-n junction photovoltaic (solar) cell

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Major sources of efficiency loss

Bulk and surface recombination

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Requirements for good cells

The Reflectivity Problem

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Anti-Reflective Coatings Single Quarter Wave Film

100 % transmis sion at

Destructive interference kills the

Anti-Reflective Coatings Simulation Results

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

~34% reflectance with

Light trapping conclusions

Preview of the Different Kinds of

Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies