Light management for high efficiency solar roadways

政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)已将利用太阳能电池将太阳能转化为清洁和可再生能源，作为实现全球二氧化碳减排目标和减缓全球变暖的关键技术之一。随着我们的社会用清洁电力取代以化石燃烧为基础的能源，需要与集成和成本效益高的太阳能技术相关的创新。太阳能地球技术公司(SET)正在努力将道路集成太阳能电池板或太阳能道路商业化，这将为日益增长的电动汽车车队提供清洁能源。美国的计算表明，需要一个与今天的道路覆盖率相当的面积才能为全国提供太阳能电力。因此，这不仅是一个经济的概念，而且可能会产生大规模的影响。SET目前正在开发一种道路电池板产品，该产品将集成高效硅太阳能组件用于发电。目前商业上可用的太阳能电池很脆，并且针对倾斜安装进行了优化，这是不利于道路一体化的特征。需要找到新的解决方案，以便在地面安装应用中实现高效的光子收集。SET正在进一步开发新型薄膜单晶太阳能电池，这将提高材料利用率，减少模块能量回收时间，并降低模块成本。然而，硅的间接带隙和因此较差的吸收，需要使用智能光管理结构来增加光子的吸收长度。UBC-O的太阳能和燃料实验室(LSEF)和SET的科学家们将通过研究光捕获功能的新概念来应对这些挑战，这些功能可以通过宏观结构进行后处理，或在加工过程中通过微观结构使用。研究将包括通过理论建模评估硅太阳能电池捕光功能的可行性和经济性，而在稍后阶段，优化的概念将在UBC-O的当地实验室设施中实际实现和表征。

Solar energy conversion to clean and renewable electricity by means of solar cells has been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) as one of the key technologies to meet global CO2 reduction targets and mitigate global warming. As our society replaces fossil-combustion based energy with clean electricity, innovation related to integrated and cost-efficient solar technology is needed. Solar Earth Technologies (SET) is working to commercialize road-integrated solar panels or solar roads, which are poised to provide clean energy to the increasing fleet of electric vehicles. Calculations in the United States have shown that an area comparable to today's road coverage is needed to provide the entire country with solar electricity. It is thus a concept that could not only be economical but also impactful on large scale. SET is currently working on a road panel product that will integrate high-efficiency Silicon solar modules for energy generation. Current commercially available solar cells are brittle and optimized for tilt mounting, which are features not conducive for road integration. New solutions that allows for efficient photon collection in ground mounted applications need to be found. SET is further working to develop novel thin-film monocrystalline solar cells, that would increase materials utilization, reduce module energy payback time, and bring down module cost. The indirect bandgap and therefore poor absorption of Silicon, however, necessitates the use of intelligent light management structures to increase the absorption length of photons. Scientists at UBC-O's Laboratory for Solar Energy and Fuels (LSEF) and SET will address these challenges by investigating novel concepts of light trapping features that can be employed post processing, via macroscopic structures, or during processing, via microscopic structures. Research will encompass the evaluation of feasibility and economy of light trapping features for Silicon solar cells through theoretical modelling while at a later stage, optimized concepts will be practically realized and characterized in local laboratory facilities at UBC-O.