Solar RRL最新文献

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is one of the most used electron transport layers (ETLs) in antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) solar cells. However, high-temperature sintering step limits the choice of substrates and overall device fabrication flexibility. This study investigates the impact of photonic curing (PC) on the performance of TiO₂ ETLs in Sb₂Se₃ superstrate solar cells. TiO₂ thin films were deposited via spin coating and subsequently annealed using the PC technique, a method previously unexplored in the context of Sb₂Se₃ solar cells. The photovoltaic performance of these devices was compared with conventional thermally annealed TiO₂. Thermally annealed TiO₂ demonstrated an average power conversion efficiency of 4.1%, whereas PC TiO₂ achieved 3.2%. While PC resulted in a slightly reduced efficiency, it presents a rapid, scalable alternative to conventional annealing, potentially reducing processing time and energy consumption. The findings highlight PC as a promising technique for future advancements in thin-film solar cell fabrication.

The increasing integration of solar power requires highly accurate intra-hour solar irradiance forecasts. This study aims to significantly improve intra-hour solar irradiance forecasts by developing and evaluating a blending approach that integrates distinct forecast sources. Our methodology involves extending the horizon of an All-sky imager (ASI) data-driven transformer-based model up to 1 h ahead. The outputs of this ASI model are blended with a Heliosat-3-based satellite forecast and a persistence forecast via linear regression as well as with distinct advanced machine learning algorithms. We assess the hybrid system's performance across varying sky conditions and analyze the impact of temporal aggregation schemes and the effective spatial coverage of a single ASI installation. Results demonstrate that this integrated multisource hybrid approach provides substantial benefits by reducing the overall root mean squared error and mean absolute error over the standalone satellite forecast by 13.6% and 17.0%, respectively. This is attributed to the complementary strengths of the individual models: ASI excels under dynamic conditions, satellite offers broader spatial coverage, and persistence provides a robust baseline for the immediate future. Furthermore, the strong generalization capability of the ASI model is shown through its effective performance across climatically distinct sites (training in southern Spain and validation in northern Germany).

Bifacial solar cells effectively increase photovoltaic energy generation by harnessing light from both the front and rear surfaces. In the realm of thin-film technology, inorganic chalcogenides specifically (Cu (In, Ga)Se₂, S), CdTe, Cu₂ZnSn (S, Se)₄, and Sb₂(S, Se)₃ exhibit significant potential owing to their adjustable band gaps, robust absorption characteristics, and scalable manufacturing processes. This review emphasizes current advancements in chalcogenide-based bifacial photovoltaics, concentrating on device principles, absorber appropriateness, and performance limitations. Numerical and experimental investigations demonstrate that bifacial illumination not only alleviates interfacial band bending under specific conditions but also produces power outputs that surpass the cumulative contributions of single-side illumination, while exhibiting resilience to diffuse rear illumination. Nevertheless, actual albedo levels indicate that reductions in front-side efficiency cannot be entirely compensated for rear-side improvements, highlighting the necessity for clear low-recombination contacts, efficient light management, and robust device interfaces. We end with an overview of strategies spanning back contact engineering to outdoor durability that are crucial for advancing bifacial chalcogenide photovoltaics from laboratory demonstrations to initial commercialization. Bifacial solar cell configurations are particularly advantageous for tandem applications. This offers a promising pathway to further enhance overall device efficiency.

The commercial viability of promising perovskite photovoltaic technologies hinges on their ability to achieve multidecade operational lifetimes, driving a global effort to design accelerated aging tests that can reliably predict real-world stability. However, establishing a link between indoor and outdoor degradation remains challenging, as it typically requires sophisticated characterization techniques that are difficult to implement and interpret. In this work, we demonstrate how coupling physics-based modeling with a probabilistic Bayesian framework allows us to validate the relationship between indoor and outdoor degradation pathways of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) using readily available current–voltage curve data. Our findings reveal that bulk trap density is a dominant degradation mechanism common to p-i-n PSCs tested under various indoor and outdoor conditions, while new degradation modes not yet observed during outdoor exposure emerge under elevated stress levels. Furthermore, they emphasize the need to move beyond efficiency-based lifetime metrics toward a mechanistic framework that can uncover potential failure points. This flexible approach can guide the design of predictive accelerated testing protocols while offering broad applications for optimizing fabrication processes and assessing performance across the solar industry and beyond.

Germanium laser power converters—devices that convert laser light into electrical power via the photovoltaic effect—offer attractive cost advantages, particularly at 1550 nm, a wavelength that provides eye safety, atmospheric transparency, and efficient laser operation. This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of improved Ge-based laser power converters that have achieved record efficiencies of 30.8% at an input power of 6.7 W/cm². We analyze the current advancements and limitations of these converters and provide a roadmap for achieving efficiencies exceeding 39%, demonstrating the expanding role of photovoltaic Ge devices beyond conventional solar cell applications.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered highly promising for next-generation building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) applications due to their abundant raw materials, tunable transparency, and cost-efficient fabrication through printable processes. Herein, a dual-architecture strategy for formamidinium lead bromide (FAPbBr₃) perovskite solar cells is established. We achieved a record 8.77% power conversion efficiency (PCE) with 1.39 V open-circuit voltage (V_OC) in carbon-based electrode devices and 3.25% PCE with 35.03% average visible transmittance (AVT) in semitransparent configurations. Through systematic optimization of annealing temperature (60–100°C) and duration (10–40 min), we identify 80°C/20 min as the ideal condition, yielding large grains with complete surface coverage, enhanced photoluminescence intensity indicating suppressed nonradiative recombination and optimal phase purity. The carbon-based electrode device (ITO/SnO₂/FAPbBr₃/C) achieves exceptional performance (J_sc = 9.35 mAcm⁻², FF = 67.4%), while the identical perovskite layer transferred to a Spiro-OMeTAD/MoO₃/Ag/MoO₃ stack attains functional semitransparency (CIE (0.49,0.44)). These findings pave the way for the development of esthetically integrated and energy-efficient building-integrated solar solutions, with a clear path toward further optimization and commercialization of perovskite-based BIPV systems.

Vertical bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems offer significant advantages in land-use efficiency and energy yield, yet their performance is highly sensitive to environmental factors such as terrain topography, vegetation, module orientation, and ground albedo. Accurate prediction of energy yield is therefore critical for economic assessment and project bankability, but remains challenging due to complex rear-side irradiance contributions and diffuse light capture. This study investigates a linear vertical bifacial PV installation in the Rhône valley, southeastern France, employing high-resolution drone-based LiDAR data to create a detailed 3D representation of terrain, vegetation, and PV modules. Within the H2020 SERENDI-PV project, four partners—CEA, Cythelia, Lucisun, and Solargis—applied their proprietary PV modeling tools to simulate module-level and plant-scale energy yields, shading losses, and direct/diffuse irradiance profiles. A round-robin framework enabled cross-comparison and validation against high-resolution monitoring data from microinverters, revealing that all tools reproduced the characteristic double-peak diurnal energy profile of vertical bifacial arrays, while residual discrepancies were mainly associated with low-angle shading transitions. Key insights include the dominance of shading and diffuse light in energy variability, the critical role of high-fidelity site characterization, and the complementary strengths of GPU-accelerated and harmonized modeling approaches. At the plant scale, annual energy prediction deviations were reduced to 2%–4%, demonstrating that LiDAR-enhanced modeling combined with advanced simulation tools provides a robust, bankable framework for vertical bifacial PV performance assessment. These results highlight pathways for improved modeling, including spectrally-resolved irradiance, dynamic albedo incorporation, and standardized LiDAR-to-simulation workflows.

The wide bandgap of BiOCOOH (BCH) limits its application in the visible-light region. To solve this problem, a series of carbon quantum dots (CQDs)/BCH composites is synthesized using a simple hydrothermal approach. The incorporation of CQDs extends the light absorption range of BCH from the UV to the visible region, thereby enabling it to convert NO into less toxic products efficiently. From the theoretical calculations, an ohmic junction is formed between CQDs and BCH due to the difference in their work functions, which promotes the directional transfer of photogenerated electrons to CQDs, enhancing the separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers to improve photocatalytic performance. As a result, the optimized 3-CQDs/BCH composite exhibits a high NO conversion rate, 54.5%, which is 14.7 times that of pure BCH under visible-light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), besides a low NO₂ generation concentration (<10 ppb). After five cycles of use, the photocatalytic efficiency shows almost no decrease, demonstrating favorable stability and practical potential efficiency for the gaseous hazards. Finally, the reaction mechanism and plausible pathways involved in the photocatalytic conversion of NO over 3-CQDs/BCH were elucidated using electron paramagnetic resonance and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy.

Escalating energy demands and environmental imperatives necessitate sustainable hydrogen production, with photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting emerging as a vital approach. Though polymeric carbon nitride (PCN)-based photoanodes offer enormous promise, their efficacy is hampered by the inadequate charge transfer efficiency. Herein, Ag₂O was in situ integrated into potassium-incorporated PCN (KCN) photoanodes (AgKCN), primarily forming the intimate heterojunctions at the KCN/FTO interface. Importantly, AgKCN maintains a 2.56 eV bandgap while preserving the crystalline architecture of KCN. Within this structure, Ag₂O establishes a thermodynamically favorable band alignment that enables the directional hole transfer from the valence band of KCN to that of Ag₂O, thereby mitigating charge carrier recombination and lowering charge transfer resistance. Consequently, the optimized AgKCN achieves a benchmark photocurrent density of 378 μA cm⁻² at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in a 1.0 M NaOH electrolyte under AM1.5G illumination, which is ca. 4 times that of the pristine KCN, accompanied by a 90.5% surface charge injection efficiency. This work highlights the transformative role of Ag₂O in enhancing PEC performance via heterojunction-mediated carrier regulation, providing the design principles for advanced PCN-based photoanodes.

We investigate several critical aspects of a solar tower simulator for thermo-catalytic ammonia cracking at an ammonia flow rate of 1 kg h⁻¹. These include (a) assessing the relative impact of optical, conversion, and receiver efficiencies and waste heat recovery (WHR) fraction on the net solar-to-hydrogen generation efficiency, (b) designing an optimal WHR and reuse subsystem for the simulator, (c) mitigating the overheating of a 350 We Xe-short-arc lamp, and (d) optimizing the catalyst for efficient ammonia decomposition. We conclude that the conversion efficiency has the highest impact on the net solar-to-hydrogen generation efficiency. Therminol 55 mass flow rate of 1.75 kg h⁻¹ offers the highest WHR fraction of ~68% and a net solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of ~75.8%. A correlation predicts the surface temperature of the Xe-short-arc lamp, for airspeed in the range 1.4–5.2 m s⁻¹, within an uncertainty of about ±5–7%. Effective thermo-catalytic ammonia decomposition was achieved by precisely tuning the catalyst composition through the selection of an appropriate support and optimized active metal loading. All of these findings will benefit the development and scale-up of an integrated system.