Ultra-Low Cost Thin-Film and Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells
Advanced Materials, Interfaces and Optical Systems in Photovoltaics: New Ways for the Realization of Ultra-Low Costs Thin-Film and Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells.
During this seminar, we’ll first review the situation of the world photovoltaic market which will likely reach 40 GW in 2014 (new installations), indicating the major technology trends. In the second part, we’ll discuss some of the recent advances made in the Neuchâtel laboratories of both EPFL and CSEM. The following topics will be addressed here:
• The role of plasma processing for making various kind of semiconductor layers used either as photon absorber or as passivating layers on silicon wafers, or as conductive optical layers with refractive indices down to 1.7
• The realization of transparent conductive oxides with controllable doping and grain boundaries defects, allowing high-carrier mobilities (up to 60 for ZnO films and 110 cm2/Vs for InO:H materials) and high transparency in the infrared
• The role of plasmons in thin-film and crystalline Si solar cells, illustrating how the best devices are close are to optimum optical performance when plasmonic effects are screened
• The fabrication of state-of-the art thin-film silicon solar cells (with 13% stable efficiency) and crystalline silicon heterojunction cells (a-Si/c-Si) with over 22% efficiency.
Finally we’ll show how some of the research results are being industrialised by Swiss and foreign companies and why solar electricity will soon reach 3-5€cts/kwh in sunny countries.
During this seminar, we’ll first review the situation of the world photovoltaic market which will likely reach 40 GW in 2014 (new installations), indicating the major technology trends. In the second part, we’ll discuss some of the recent advances made in the Neuchâtel laboratories of both EPFL and CSEM. The following topics will be addressed here:
• The role of plasma processing for making various kind of semiconductor layers used either as photon absorber or as passivating layers on silicon wafers, or as conductive optical layers with refractive indices down to 1.7
• The realization of transparent conductive oxides with controllable doping and grain boundaries defects, allowing high-carrier mobilities (up to 60 for ZnO films and 110 cm2/Vs for InO:H materials) and high transparency in the infrared
• The role of plasmons in thin-film and crystalline Si solar cells, illustrating how the best devices are close are to optimum optical performance when plasmonic effects are screened
• The fabrication of state-of-the art thin-film silicon solar cells (with 13% stable efficiency) and crystalline silicon heterojunction cells (a-Si/c-Si) with over 22% efficiency.
Finally we’ll show how some of the research results are being industrialised by Swiss and foreign companies and why solar electricity will soon reach 3-5€cts/kwh in sunny countries.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- ICMP (Arnaud Magrez and Raphaël Butté)
Contact
- Arnaud Magrez