Novel Cells and Systems for Intermediate Concentration Photovoltaics

用于中聚光光伏的新型电池和系统

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05704
• 负责人: Kleiman, Rafael
• 金额: $ 2.84万
• 依托单位: McMaster University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=717930
• 关键词: Novel; Cells; Systems; Intermediate; Concentration

In the last few years, there have been dramatic decreases in the cost of solar photovoltaics (PV) such that it is now the least expensive and most rapidly growing form of utility-scale electricity supply in many jurisdictions. Most PV energy is provided by silicon modules, where the cell cost is now only a small fraction of the overall system cost, making cell efficiency paramount in driving further reduction in energy cost. While the average efficiency of all PV cells deployed globally is only ~18%, commercial size cells have been demonstrated with an efficiency of 26.7% and deployed cell efficiencies are expected to continue to rise for the next 5-10 years, fundamentally limited to 29.4% by Auger recombination. In an alternate approach called concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), sunlight is focussed ~1000X onto a solar cell by an optical system that accurately tracks the sun. In this approach, very high efficiency multijunction solar cells which have reached a record 47.1% efficiency can be used because their high cost is mitigated by the high level of optical concentration. Despite these benefits, CPV systems remain costly as compared to the much simpler solar modules deployed at scale. In order to accelerate global PV deployment, new strategies at the cell/system level are required to further increase cell efficiency and lower system costs. One avenue that has not been fully explored is consideration of intermediate optical concentrations, in the range of 5-200X, where the main benefit of concentration the use of higher-cost higher-efficiency cells can still be accrued, but the cost and complexity of the concentrator system can be greatly reduced. At the system level, requirements for optical components and tracking systems become less stringent and we will develop novel low profile passive tracking systems, suitable for commercial rooftop applications. At the lowest concentrations (5-10X), non-tracking designs are possible and we will develop high optical-throughput concentrator systems. At the cell level, intermediate concentration makes it feasible to introduce more complex fabrication processes such as photolithography, CVD growth and ion implantation that are currently too costly for 1-sun applications. As one example, we have shown theoretically that use of repeated silicon cells for the base of a tandem cell opens up new material choices for the top cell, while still achieving high efficiency. We will further develop this concept and design/fabricate/test new cell designs for high-efficiency intermediate concentration applications. The anticipated outcome of this research program is a deep and comprehensive understanding of the scientific and technological opportunities of intermediate concentration photovoltaics, providing a long-term conceptual roadmap for future work. Working with Canadian industry, we will develop new high-efficiency and low-cost PV cells and systems for deployment in Canada and for export to the global market.

在过去的几年中，太阳能光伏（PV）的成本急剧下降，因此它是许多司法管辖区的公用事业级电力供应的最便宜，最快增长的形式。大多数PV能源由硅模块提供，其中细胞成本仅占整体成本的一小部分，这使得细胞效率使能源成本进一步降低至关重要。尽管全球部署的所有PV细胞的平均效率仅为18％，但商业尺寸的细胞已被证明，效率为26.7％，预计部署的细胞效率将在未来5 - 10年内继续提高，从根本上讲，螺旋桨重组从根本上限制为29.4％。在称为浓缩光伏（CPV）的替代方法中，阳光通过准确跟踪太阳的光学系统将〜1000 x聚焦于太阳能电池上。在这种方法中，可以使用非常高的效率多期太阳能电池，这些太阳能电池可以使用47.1％的效率，因为高度浓度的高度降低了它们的高成本。尽管有这些好处，但与规模更简单的太阳能模块相比，CPV系统仍然成本高昂。 为了加速全球PV部署，需要在细胞/系统级别采取新策略来进一步提高细胞效率并降低系统成本。尚未充分探索的一条途径是考虑中间光学浓度，在5-200x的范围内，浓度的主要好处仍然可以累积更高成本的更高效率细胞的使用，但是浓度系统的成本和复杂性可以大大降低。在系统级别上，光学组件和跟踪系统的要求变得不那么严格，我们将开发新颖的低调无源跟踪系统，适用于商业屋顶应用。在最低浓度（5-10倍）下，非跟踪设计是可能的，我们将开发高光通量集中器系统。在细胞水平上，中间浓度使得引入更复杂的制造过程（例如光刻，CVD生长和离子植入），目前对于1个sun应用来说太昂贵了。作为一个例子，我们已经从理论上表明，使用重复的硅细胞作为串联细胞的底部为顶部细胞打开了新的材料选择，同时仍然可以达到高效率。我们将进一步开发此概念，设计/制造/测试新的细胞设计，以用于中间浓度应用。 该研究计划的预期结果是对中级浓度光伏技术的科学和技术机会的深刻而全面的理解，为未来的工作提供了长期的概念路线图。与加拿大工业合作，我们将开发新的高效和低成本的PV细胞以及在加拿大部署的系统，并向全球市场出口。