EAPSI: Environmental Testing of Multi-Crystalline Thin Film Solar Cells

EAPSI：多晶薄膜太阳能电池的环境测试

• 批准号: 1714058
• 负责人: Tara Nietzold
• 金额: $ 0.54万
• 依托单位: Nietzold Tara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-01 至 2018-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1714058&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Environmental; Testing; Multi; Crystalline

There exist solar cell materials that have higher efficiencies than the current market technology made from silicon. The reason these are not the standard technology is because they are exceedingly expensive to create. Many of the materials displaying high efficiencies are grown through very slow and high-purity techniques that are expensive and energy intensive. This project will therefore work to create and measure cost-effective III-V solar cells for their performance and behavior in normal operating conditions such as: different humidity levels, high and low temperatures, and varying light exposure. The research will be done in collaboration with Dr. Martial Ducamp, an expert in in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Singapore. The results of the study will identify possible causes of lower efficiencies in low-cost III-V solar cells, which will in turn make it possible to improve the manufacturing procedures used to produce lower cost, higher efficiency solar cells.The relationship between material properties and electrical performance will be tested using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with electron beam induced current (EBIC). TEM observes inter-atomic interactions and bonds, while, simultaneously, EBIC measures localized carrier collection throughout the sample. By correlating the TEM images with EBIC signal, certain structures, arrangements or bonds can be identified as resulting in good or bad performance. The project will also evaluate TEM/EBIC correlations under device operating conditions to identify weakly performing regions and potential causes that arise due to real, environmental factors. With a greater understanding of the causes of these low-performing regions, it will be possible to iterate making improvements to the III-V growth process until devices can be manufactured that are optimized both for cost and efficiency. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.

有一种太阳能电池材料的效率比目前市场上由硅制成的技术更高。这些不是标准技术的原因是因为它们的制造成本过高。许多显示出高效率的材料都是通过非常缓慢和高纯度的技术生长出来的，这些技术既昂贵又耗能。因此，该项目将致力于创造和测量具有成本效益的III-V太阳能电池，以了解它们在正常运行条件下的性能和行为，例如：不同的湿度水平、高和低温度以及不同的光曝光量。这项研究将与新加坡南洋理工大学的原位电子显微镜(TEM)专家Maral Ducamp博士合作完成。研究结果将找出低成本III-V太阳能电池效率较低的可能原因，这将反过来使改进用于生产更低成本、更高效率的太阳能电池的制造工艺成为可能。材料特性和电性能之间的关系将使用结合电子束感应电流(EBIC)的透射电子显微镜来测试。TEM观察原子间的相互作用和键，而EBIC同时测量整个样品中的局部载流子收集。通过将透射电子显微镜图像与EBIC信号相关联，可以确定某些结构、排列或键导致性能的好坏。该项目还将评估设备运行条件下的TEM/EBIC相关性，以确定由于真实的环境因素而出现的表现不佳的区域和潜在原因。随着对这些低性能区域的原因有了更好的了解，将有可能反复对III-V生长工艺进行改进，直到能够制造出同时针对成本和效率进行优化的器件。该奖项根据东亚和太平洋夏季学院计划，支持一名美国研究生的暑期研究，由NSF和新加坡国家研究基金会联合资助。