STTR Phase I: Multiuse Rural Photovoltaic Module

这项小型企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业影响是使农田能够同时用于农业和太阳能生产。该项目将推进一项技术，以适当地引导阳光进入太阳能电池和农场使用。这为农民提供了额外的收入，并创造了一个需要较少水的可控生长环境，提供了免受冰雹和其他因素影响的保护，并延长了生长季节。这项技术增强了反馈，因为在太阳能组件下方种植作物可以冷却太阳能电池的区域，提高效率。这个STTR第一期项目通过开发半导体器件的新方法，将高效率和硅电池的稳健性结合起来，推进了新的光伏结构和物理机制的转化。该项目将设计一个农业光伏模块，通过光集中优化光到光伏模块和光到下面的作物之间的权衡。研发计划包括四个部分：(1)开发一个包含区域太阳能和经济数据的模拟模型；(2)确定光学膜的设计参数（如光浓度、波长范围等）；(3)集成光学薄膜的太阳能电池设计；(4)新太阳能组件的建设和现场测试，以显示其对作物和农业生态系统的有益影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to enable simultaneous use of farmland for farming and solar energy production. This project will advance a technology to appropriately direct sunlight into solar cells and farm use. This provides additional revenue to farmers and creates a controlled growth environment that requires less water, provides protection from hail and the elements, and extends the growing season. The technology enhances feedback because growing crops below the solar modules cools the region of the solar cells and improves their efficiency. This STTR Phase I project advances translation of new photovoltaic structures and physical mechanisms though the development of a new approach to semiconductor device, integrating advances on high efficiency with the robustness of silicon cells. This project will design an agrivoltaic module that optimizes the trade-offs between light to the photovoltaic module through optical concentration and light to the crops below. The R&D plan comprises four parts: (1) development of a simulation model that includes regional solar and economic data; (2) determination of the design parameters of the optical film (e.g., optical concentration, wavelength range, etc); (3) design of the solar cell integrated with the optical film; and (4) construction and field testing of the new solar module to show its beneficial impact on crops and the farming ecosystem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.