Solar Cell Materials

MATERIALS FOR SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION This book provides professionals and students with a resource on the basic principles and applications of solar energy materials and processes, as well as practicing engineers who want to understand how functional materials operate in solar energy conversion systems. The demand for energy is increasing daily, and the development of sustainable power generation is a critical issue. In order to overcome the energy demand, power generation through solar energy is booming. Many research works have attempted to enhance the efficiency of collection and storage of solar energy and, as a result, numerous advanced functional materials have been developed for enhancing the performance of solar cells. This book has compiled and broadly explores the latest developments of materials, methods, and applications of solar energy. The book is divided into 2 parts, in which the first part deals with solar cell fundamentals and emerging categories, and the latter part deals with materials, methods, and applications in order to fill the gap between existing technologies and practical requirements. The book presents detailed chapters including organic, inorganic, coating materials, and collectors. The use of modern computer simulation techniques, conversion and storage processes are effectively covered. Topics such as nanostructured solar cells, battery materials, etc. are included in this book as well. Audience The book is aimed at researchers in materials science, chemistry, physics, electrical and mechanical engineering working in the fields of nanotechnology, photovoltaic device technology, and solar energy.

Solar cells are semiconductor devices that convert light photons into electricity in photovoltaic energy conversion and can help to overcome the global energy crisis. Solar cells have many applications including remote area power systems, earth-orbiting satellites, wristwatches, water pumping, photodetectors and remote radiotelephones. Solar cell technology is economically feasible for commercial-scale power generation. While commercial solar cells exhibit good performance and stability, still researchers are looking at many ways to improve the performance and cost of solar cells via modulating the fundamental properties of semiconductors. Solar cell technology is the key to a clean energy future. Solar cells directly harvest energy from the sun’s light radiation into electricity are in an ever-growing demand for future global energy production. Solar cell-based energy harvesting has attracted worldwide attention for their notable features, such as cheap renewable technology, scalable, lightweight, flexibility, versatility, no greenhouse gas emission, environment, and economy friendly and operational costs are quite low compared to other forms of power generation. Thus, solar cell technology is at the forefront of renewable energy technologies which are used in telecommunications, power plants, small devices to satellites. Aiming at large-scale implementation can be manipulated by various types used in solar cell design and exploration of new materials towards improving performance and reducing cost. Therefore, in-depth knowledge about solar cell design is fundamental for those who wish to apply this knowledge and understanding in industries and academics. This book provides a comprehensive overview on solar cells and explores the history to evolution and present scenarios of solar cell design, classification, properties, various semiconductor materials, thin films, wafer-scale, transparent solar cells, and so on. It also includes solar cells’ characterization analytical tools, theoretical modeling, practices to enhance conversion efficiencies, applications and patents.

Bridging the gap between basic science and technological applications, this is the first book devoted to polymers for solar thermal applications. Clearly divided into three major parts, the contributions are written by experts on solar thermal applications and polymer scientists alike. The first part explains the fundamentals of solar thermal energy especially for representatives of the plastics industry and researchers. Part two then goes on to provide introductory information on polymeric materials and processing for solar thermal experts. The third part combines both of these fields, discussing the potential of polymeric materials in solar thermal applications, as well as demands on durability, design and building integration. With its emphasis on applications, this monograph is relevant for researchers at universities and developers in commercial companies.

Systematically describes the physical and materials properties of copper-based quaternary chalcogenide semiconductor materials, enabling their potential for photovoltaic device applications. Intended for scientists and engineers, in particular, in the fields of multinary semiconductor physics and a variety of photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices.

This book focuses on the materials used for fuel cells, solar panels, and storage devices, such as rechargeable batteries. Fuel cell devices, such as direct methanol fuel cells, direct ethanol fuel cells, direct urea fuel cells, as well as biological fuel cells and the electrolytes, membranes, and catalysts used there are detailed. Separate chapters are devoted to polymer electrode materials and membranes. With regard to solar cells, the types of solar cells are detailed, such as inorganic-organic hybrid solar cells, solar powered biological fuel cells, heterojunction cells, multi-junction cells, and others. Also, the fabrication methods are described. Further, the electrolytes, membranes, and catalysts used there are detailed. The section that is dealing with rechargeable batteries explains the types of rechargeable devices, such as aluminum-based batteries, zinc batteries, magnesium batteries, and lithium batteries. Materials that are used for cathodes, anodes and electrolytes are detailed. The text focuses on the basic issues and also the literature of the past decade. Beyond education, this book may serve the needs of polymer specialists as well as other specialists, e.g., materials scientists, electrochemical engineers, etc., who have only a passing knowledge of these issues, but need to know more.

Presents a fully interdisciplinary approach with a stronger emphasis on polymers and composites than traditional materials books Materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. Polymer materials are often mixed with inorganic materials to enhance their mechanical, electrical, thermal, and physical properties. Materials: Introduction and Applications addresses a gap in the existing textbooks on materials science. This book focuses on three Units. The first, Foundations, includes basic materials topics from Intermolecular Forces and Thermodynamics and Phase Diagrams to Crystalline and Non-Crystalline Structures. The second Units, Materials, goes into the details of many materials including Metals, Ceramics, Organic Raw Materials, Polymers, Composites, Biomaterials, and Liquid Crystals and Smart Materials. The third and final unit details Behavior and Properties including Rheological, Mechanical, Thermophysical, Color and Optical, Electrical and Dielectric, Magnetic, Surface Behavior and Tribology, Materials, Environment and Sustainability, and Testing of Materials. Materials: Introduction and Applications features: Basic and advanced Materials concepts Interdisciplinary information that is otherwise scattered consolidated into one work Links to everyday life application like electronics, airplanes, and dental materials Certain topics to be discussed in this textbook are more advanced. These will be presented in shaded gray boxes providing a two-level approach. Depending on whether you are a student of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Technology, MSE, Chemistry, Physics, etc., you can decide for yourself whether a topic presented on a more advanced level is not important for you—or else essential for you given your professional profile Witold Brostow is Regents Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. He is President of the International Council on Materials Education and President of the Scientific Committee of the POLYCHAR World Forum on Advanced Material (42 member countries). He has three honorary doctorates and is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences, Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Mexico, Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering of Georgia in Tbilisi and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London. His publications have been cited more than 7200 times. Haley Hagg Lobland is the Associate Director of LAPOM at the University of North Texas. She is a Member of the POLYCHAR Scientific Committeee. She has received awards for her research presented at conferences in: Buzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; NIST, Frederick, Maryland; Rouen, France; and Lviv, Ukraine. She has lectured in a number of countries including Poland and Spain. Her publications include joint ones with colleagues in Egypt, Georgia, Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

In an age of global industrialisation and population growth, the area of energy is one that is very much in the public consciousness. Fundamental scientific research is recognised as being crucial to delivering solutions to these issues, particularly to yield novel means of providing efficient, ideally recyclable, ways of converting, transporting and delivering energy. This volume considers a selection of the state-of-the-art materials that are being designed to meet some of the energy challenges we face today. Topics are carefully chosen that show how the skill of the synthetic chemist can be applied to allow the targeted preparation of inorganic materials with properties optimised for a specific application. Four chapters explore the key areas of: Polymer Electrolytes Advanced Inorganic Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Solar Energy Materials Hydrogen Adsorption on Metal Organic Framework Materials for Storage Applications Energy Materials provides both a summary of the current status of research, and an eye to how future research may develop materials properties further. Additional volumes in the Inorganic Materials Series: Molecular Materials Functional Oxides Porous Materials Low-Dimensional Solids