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Flux calibrations in multi-source thermal co-evaporation of thin films have been developed based on real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) measurements. This methodology has been applied to fabricate CuInSe2 (CIS) thin film photovoltaic (PV) absorbers, as an illustrative example, and their properties as functions of deposition rate have been studied. In this example, multiple Cu layers are deposited step-wise onto the same Si wafer substrate at different Cu evaporation source temperatures (TCu). Multiple In2Se3 layers are deposited similarly at different In source temperatures (TIn). Using RTSE, the Cu and In2Se3 deposition rates are determined as functions of TCu and TIn. These rates, denoted Reff, are measured in terms of effective thickness which is the volume per planar substrate area and accounts for surface roughness variations with deposition time. By assuming that all incident metal atoms are incorporated into the films and that the atomic concentrations in the deposited material components are the same as in single crystals, initial estimates of the Cu and In atom fluxes can be made versus TCu and TIn. Applying these estimates to the co-evaporation of a set of CIS films from individual Cu, In, and Se sources, atomic concentration corrections can be assigned to the Cu and In2Se3 calibration films. The corrections enable generation of a novel calibration diagram predicting the atomic ratio y = [Cu]/[In] and rate Reff within the TCu-TIn plane. Using this diagram, optimization of the CIS properties as a PV absorber can be achieved versus both y and Reff.

Variability and uncertainty of renewable distributed generation increase power grid complexity, necessitating the development of advanced control strategies. demonstrates a real-world testbed and the implementation of control strategies on it to mitigate the challenges associated with variability and uncertainty of renewable distributed generation. This control-centric testbed includes 4.6 MW of controllable building loads, a 1 MW solar array, and a 125 kW / 130 kWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The capabilities of the testbed are illustrated by highlighting the implementation of three specific scenarios relevant to future smart grid infrastructures. In the first scenario, photovoltaic output variability is mitigated with the BESS using adaptive moving average and adaptive state of charge control methods. The second and third scenarios demonstrate peak load management and load following control to manage uncertainty using the Intelligent Load Control (ILC) algorithm. The ILC modifies controllable loads using a prioritization matrix and an analytical hierarchy process. The three scenarios all operate at a different time-constant, and are each effectively addressed, demonstrating the versatility and flexibility of the presented testbed. This demonstrated ability to rapidly test the efficacy of alternate control algorithms on a real system is crucial to the maturation of future smart-grid.

Bandgap gradient is a promising approach to improve the open-circuit voltage in thin film solar cells. Here, authors incorporate a Cd(O,S,Se,Te) region to realize the bandgap gradient at front interface and demonstrate Cd(Se,Te) solar cells with reduced recombination and a champion efficiency of 20.03%.

Motivated by their utility in CdTe-based thin film photovoltaics (PV) devices, an investigation of thin films of the magnesium-zinc oxide (MgxZn1−xO or MZO) alloy system was undertaken applying spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). Dominant wurtzite phase MZO thin films with Mg contents in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.42 were deposited on room temperature soda lime glass (SLG) substrates by magnetron co-sputtering of MgO and ZnO targets followed by annealing. The complex dielectric functions ε of these films were determined and parameterized over the photon energy range from 0.73 to 6.5 eV using an analytical model consisting of two critical point (CP) oscillators. The CP parameters in this model are expressed as polynomial functions of the best fitting lowest CP energy or bandgap E0 = Eg, which in turn is a quadratic function of x. As functions of x, both the lowest energy CP broadening and the Urbach parameter show minima for x ~ 0.3, which corresponds to a bandgap of 3.65 eV. As a result, it is concluded that for this composition and bandgap, the MZO exhibits either a minimum concentration of defects in the bulk of the crystallites or a maximum in the grain size, an observation consistent with measured X-ray diffraction line broadenings. The parametric expression for ε developed here is expected to be useful in future mapping and through-the-glass SE analyses of partial and complete PV device structures incorporating MZO.

The replacement of traditional CdS with zinc magnesium oxide (ZMO) has been demonstrated as being helpful to boost power conversion efficiency of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells to over 18%, due to the reduced interface recombination and parasitic light absorption by the buffer layer. However, due to the atmosphere sensitivity of ZMO film, the post treatments of ZMO/CdTe stacks, including CdCl2 treatment, back contact deposition, etc., which are critical for high-performance CdTe solar cells became crucial challenges. To realize the full potential of the ZMO buffer layer, plenty of investigations need to be accomplished. Here, copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) is demonstrated to be a suitable back-contact material with multi-advantages for ZMO/CdTe solar cells. Particularly, ammonium hydroxide as the solvent for CuSCN deposition shows no detrimental impact on the ZMO layer during the post heat treatment. The post annealing temperature as well as the thickness of CuSCN films are investigated. Finally, a champion power conversion efficiency of 16.7% is achieved with an open-circuit voltage of 0.857 V, a short-circuit current density of 26.2 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 74.0%.

Recent numerical modeling and experimental work have shown that appropriate conduction band alignment at the emitter/absorber interface is critically important for high efficiency CdTe solar cells. To date, however, the properties of the transparent conducting oxide (TCO)/emitter interface have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we use numerical modeling to determine the role of the conduction band alignment at the TCO/emitter interface. Our findings are increasingly important to device performance as efforts are made to widen the bandgap of the absorber. We also investigate the relative importance of the barrier caused by poor front contact versus the barrier at the back contact. It is well known that a barrier at the back contact can reduce the open circuit voltage of the device and produce rollover in the current density-voltage but is not well appreciated that a barrier at the front of the device can play a completely analogous role. We also show that for optimum device performance at any absorber bandgap, the conduction band of the TCO must be no more than 0.3 eV below the conduction band of the emitter.

Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) has been applied for in-situ monitoring of the first stage of copper indium-gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin film deposition by the three-stage co-evaporation process used for fabrication of high efficiency thin film photovoltaic (PV) devices. The first stage entails the growth of indium-gallium selenide (In1−xGax)2Se3 (IGS) on a substrate of Mo-coated soda lime glass maintained at a temperature of 400 °C. This is a critical stage of CIGS deposition because a large fraction of the final film thickness is deposited, and as a result precise compositional control is desired in order to achieve the optimum performance of the resulting CIGS solar cell. RTSE is sensitive to monolayer level film growth processes and can provide accurate measurements of bulk and surface roughness layer thicknesses. These in turn enable accurate measurements of the bulk layer optical response in the form of the complex dielectric function ε = ε1 − iε2, spectra. Here, RTSE has been used to obtain the (ε1, ε2) spectra at the measurement temperature of 400 °C for IGS thin films of different Ga contents (x) deduced from different ranges of accumulated bulk layer thickness during the deposition process. Applying an analytical expression in common for each of the (ε1, ε2) spectra of these IGS films, oscillator parameters have been obtained in the best fits and these parameters in turn have been fitted with polynomials in x. From the resulting database of polynomial coefficients, the (ε1, ε2) spectra can be generated for any composition of IGS from the single parameter, x. The results have served as an RTSE fingerprint for IGS composition and have provided further structural information beyond simply thicknesses, for example information related to film density and grain size. The deduced IGS structural evolution and the (ε1, ε2) spectra have been interpreted as well in relation to observations from scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy profiling analyses. Overall the structural, optical and compositional analysis possible by RTSE has assisted in understanding the growth and properties of three stage CIGS absorbers for solar cells and shows future promise for enhancing cell performance through monitoring and control.

We report a Raman spectroscopy study of charge transfer interactions in complexes formed by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and [FeFe] hydrogenase I (CaHydI) from Clostridium acetobutylicum. The choice of Raman excitation wavelength and sample preparation conditions allows differences to be observed for complexes involving metallic (m) and semiconducting (s) species. Adsorbed CaHydI can reversibly inject electronic charge into the LUMOs of s-SWNTs, while charge can be injected and removed from m-SWNTs at lower potentials just above the Fermi energy. Time-dependent enzymatic assays demonstrated that the reduced and oxidized forms of CaHydI are deactivated by oxygen, but at rates that varied by an order of magnitude. The time evolution of the oxidative decay of the CaHydI activity reveals different time constants when complexed with m-SWNTs and s-SWNTs. The correlation of enzymatic assays with time-dependent Raman spectroscopy provides a novel method by which the charge transfer interactions may be investigated in the various SWNT–CaHydI complexes. Surprisingly, an oxidized form of CaHydI is apparently more resistant to oxygen deactivation when complexed to m-SWNTs rather than s-SWNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]