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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Robust multiresonant nonlocal metasurfaces by rational design

Abstract Dielectric metasurfaces supporting optical resonances have become a promising platform for quantum and nonlinear optics. However, resonant metasurfaces remain limited in their capacity to independently control the behavior of many distinct resonances despite efforts in computational optimization and inverse design. In this work, we overcome longstanding limitations by introducing a generalized rational design paradigm based on symmetry. Specifically, we use symmetry-broken metasurfaces with periodic “quadromer” lattices comprised of four nanostructures per unit cell to enable extensive control of multiple optical resonances. The rationally designed metasurfaces are readily fabricable, and we experimentally demonstrate metasurfaces that support up to four high Q-factor resonances with deliberately chosen free-space polarizations, spectral separations, and mode profiles. Our design paradigm may unlock new applications for multiresonant metasurfaces in quantum and nonlinear optics, optical sensing, and augmented reality displays.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Materials Science of the Interstitial Doping Process

Particle accelerators are an increasingly important tool for frontier science. Growing initial and operating costs are a significant barrier for upgrades and for new machines. While everything matters, the major cost contributor is the SRF cavities and their ancillary facilities (e.g., cryoplant). Accordingly, the accelerator science community devotes much R&D effort to improving their energy efficiency (increased Q o ) and gradient (E acc ). While improved gradient is at the forefront for certain machines (ILC), improved quality factor has broader impact, benefitting all SRF applications. An important opportunity for accelerator science and technology to move forward arose in the course of building the LCLS-II, the second generation Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC. At more or less the same time, researchers at Fermilab discovered that introducing a small amount of nitrogen to the niobium surface could improve the mid-range quality factor as much as three-fold. A firm resolution of how nitrogen confers its benefit attracts much current research interest. The key elements of the “nitrogen doping” process were vacuum bake at 800 °C, brief exposure to mTorr of nitrogen at several hundred degrees followed by electropolish (EP) to remove several microns from the surface to eliminate unwanted nitrides: While the process as a whole was novel, the comprising unit operations are familiar to the accelerator community. It was judged reasonable to adopt it as a cost-reduction technology for LCLS-II. Researchers carried out a program of varying process parameters and measuring performance in single-cell cavities, leading to a consensus stable protocol for the project. The transition to vendor fabrication and multiple niobium sources has presented unforeseen challenges of performance variation evidently not connected to anything that could be incorporated in a purchase specification. Moving beyond the high temperature N-doping process above, researchers reported a simplified process consisting entirely of tens of hours anneal in a N atmosphere at low temperatures (~120°C – 160°C) after 800 °C UHV bake. These processes typically yield a few-nm doped layer while the high temperature process yields at least a few to many micron doped layer. Even more recently, oxygen has been used to dope instead of nitrogen which leaves a few-µm O-alloyed layer upon vacuum annealing for 300 °C for ~3 hours. The investigation of these materials is just beginning, but the process simplification they may offer is surely attractive. The very low quantity of material that appears to be significant in the “infusion” process indicates the need for very careful control of gas species available for diffusion into the surface during low temperature treatment, both for process control and research to characterize the underlying dynamics. Oxygen alloying offers the further opportunity to utilize the decomposition of the surface native oxide as the dopant source. It is necessary to understand and (thus) manage this process. We have been supported by the Department of Energy Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics to pursue this goal.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Competing Easy-Axis Anisotropies Impacting Magnetic Tunnel Junction-Based Molecular Spintronics Devices (MTJMSDs)

Molecular spintronics devices (MSDs) attempt to harness molecules’ quantum state, size, and configurable attributes for application in computer devices—a quest that began more than 70 years ago. In the vast number of theoretical studies and limited experimental attempts, MSDs have been found to be suitable for application in memory devices and futuristic quantum computers. MSDs have recently also exhibited intriguing spin photovoltaic-like phenomena, signaling their potential application in cost-effective and novel solar cell technologies. The molecular spintronics field’s major challenge is the lack of mass-fabrication methods producing robust magnetic molecule connections with magnetic electrodes of different anisotropies. Another main challenge is the limitations of conventional theoretical methods for understanding experimental results and designing new devices. Magnetic tunnel junction-based molecular spintronics devices (MTJMSDs) are designed by covalently connecting paramagnetic molecules across an insulating tunneling barrier. The insulating tunneling barrier serves as a mechanical spacer between two ferromagnetic (FM) electrodes of tailorable magnetic anisotropies to allow molecules to undergo many intriguing phenomena. Our experimental studies showed that the paramagnetic molecules could produce strong antiferromagnetic coupling between two FM electrodes, leading to a dramatic large-scale impact on the magnetic electrode itself. Recently, we showed that the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) was effective in providing plausible insights into the observation of unusual magnetic domains based on the role of single easy-axis magnetic anisotropy. Here, we experimentally show that the response of a paramagnetic molecule is dramatically different when connected to FM electrodes of different easy-axis anisotropies. Motivated by our experimental studies, here, we report on an MCS study investigating the impact of the simultaneous presence of two easy-axis anisotropies on MTJMSD equilibrium properties. In-plane easy-axis anisotropy produced multiple magnetic phases of opposite spins. The multiple magnetic phases vanished at higher thermal energy, but the MTJMSD still maintained a higher magnetic moment because of anisotropy. The out-of-plane easy-axis anisotropy caused a dominant magnetic phase in the FM electrode rather than multiple magnetic phases. The simultaneous application of equal-magnitude in-plane and out-of-plane easy-axis anisotropies on the same electrode negated the anisotropy effect. Our experimental and MCS study provides insights for designing and understanding new spintronics-based devices.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Future of Renewable Energy Generation: Photovoltaic Materials

There are myriad ways to harness solar energy, including, but not limited to: solar thermal, solar fuels, and photovoltaics (PV). Across the portfolio of solar energy technologies, PV is unique in that collected photons are directly converted to electricity. Traditionally, the dominant materials in PV are also the dominant semiconductor and optoelectronic materials. The cost of solar energy from PV is a product of a complex combination of non-material related factors, known as soft costs, e.g., permitting, zoning, and of balance-of-systems (BOS) costs, like inverters or other components needed to utilize cells and modules. While the soft costs are due to administrative/regulatory concerns, BOS costs are driven by details of cell/module fabrication, mounting, power electronics, and other concerns, which touch on a range of basic material science issues. There is some overlap of BOS and soft cost, as a lighter weight solar panel can reduce installations costs, as an example. At the PV-system level, the materials considerations span both electronic and structural components. The focus of this paper is the solar cell, which is the minimum operational unit device that converts light into electricity.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Use of a segmented cell for the combinatorial development of platinum group metal-free electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells

The development of novel platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalysts is a difficult task, particularly when coupled with the integration into a cathode catalyst layer (CCL). The optimization of such PGM-free electrode structures is often non-linear and iterative, making it a demanding task due to the high number of parameters that affect performance. To accelerate both materials discovery and electrode development, this work demonstrates the application of a high-resolution segmented cell (SC) with 121 segments of 0.413 cm 2 size for combinatorial high-throughput PGM-free catalyst screening and CCL optimization. The approach utilizes three flow-field strips with active areas of 4.45 cm 2 each, distributed over 11 segments. Electrodes with identical catalyst material and fabrication method result in reproducible data with typically less than 10% variation between each segment and match in performance with differential single cell data. High throughput testing of combinatorial sample sets, with varied PGM-free electrocatalyst materials or electrode composition, demonstrated the ability to rapidly discern high performing outliers, and establish or confirm trends in electrode optimization. The results indicated significant performance benefits of electrodes with ionomer content of 45 wt% over lower values, and of water rich inks with 82% water content over those with 50%.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ammonia-fed reversible protonic ceramic fuel cells with Ru-based catalyst

Abstract The intermediate operating temperatures (~400–600 °C) of reversible protonic ceramic fuel cells (RePCFC) permit the potential use of ammonia as a carbon-neutral high energy density fuel and energy storage medium. Here we show fabrication of anode-supported RePCFC with an ultra-dense (~100%) and thin (4 μm) protonic ceramic electrolyte layer. When coupled to a novel Ru-(BaO) 2 (CaO)(Al 2 O 3 ) (Ru-B2CA) reversible ammonia catalyst, maximum fuel-cell power generation reaches 877 mW cm −2 at 650 °C under ammonia fuel. We report relatively stable operation at 600 °C for up to 1250 h under ammonia fuel. In fuel production mode, ammonia rates exceed 1.2 × 10 −8 NH 3 mol cm −2 s −1 at ambient pressure with H 2 from electrolysis only, and 2.1 × 10 −6 mol NH 3 cm −2 s −1 at 12.5 bar with H 2 from both electrolysis and simulated recycling gas.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

High Performing and Durable Pyrophosphate Based Composite Membranes for Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cells [Slides]

Objective: Develop a novel proton conducting electrolyte operating at >200°C with conductivity σ ≥ 100 mScm –1 and RH < 1%. Fabrication of membranes of less than 40μm thickness while retaining high conductivity will result in ASR <0.04 Ωcm 2 . Evaluate membrane durability in terms of crossover, shorting resistance, and open circuit voltage, as well as against temperature cycling. Relevance: Operating FCs in the intermediate temperature range has the potential to greatly reduce cost and simplify water and thermal management. This effort requires novel materials and approaches to meet DOE membrane performance and durability targets. MPP/Polymer composite membranes show promise in early development for application in IT-FCs for transportation applications. Approach: We have demonstrated that both cation dopants and phosphate precursor influence MPP conductivity and identified the most promising MPP compositions for membrane fabrication. The ceramic MPP materials are fabricated as a composite membrane in a 90:10 wt% ratio with Nafion. We have modified our membrane fabrication procedure to improve the density of our membranes. Accomplishments: We demonstrated through-plane membrane conductivity of 95mScm -1 at T > 200°C and RH<0.04bar with a thickness 50μm. We demonstrated FC performance up to 94hrs at 220°C and <1% RH with a 50μm thick membrane exhibiting an OCV of 0.98V and ASR of 0.08 Wcm 2 . Future work: Further decrease in ASR is expected by decreasing the membrane thickness to <40μm. ITPP with higher P:M ratio will be used to increase the conductivity of the starting material. Long term durability will be assessed against DOE technical targets

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of Perovskite (PVSK) Technology Related to Solar Cell Manufacturing Equipment (CRADA CRD-18-733 Final Report)

This CRADA between Energy Everywhere and NREL is to develop a process to fabricate flexible photovoltaic modules using a solution coated PVSK absorber with interlayers comprising materials deposited by economically feasible methods. Energy Everywhere™ will replicate and scale this process in Berkeley, California where it will ultimately commercialize the process, fabrication equipment, and PV modules.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Collective Phonon–Polaritonic Modes in Silicon Carbide Subarrays

Localized surface phonon polaritons (LSPhPs) can be implemented to engineer light–matter interactions through nanoscale patterning for a range of midinfrared application spaces. However, the polar material systems studied to date have mainly focused on simple designs featuring a single element in the periodic unit cell. Increasing the complexity of the unit cell can serve to modify the resonant near-fields and intra- and inter-unit-cell coupling as well as to dictate spectral tuning in the far-field. In this work, we exploit more complicated unit-cell structures to realize LSPhP modes with additional degrees of design freedom, which are largely unexplored. Collectively excited LSPhP modes with distinctly symmetric and antisymmetric near-fields are supported in these subarray designs, which are based on nanopillars that are scaled by the number of subarray elements to ensure a constant unit-cell size. Moreover, we observe an anomalous mode-matching of the collective symmetric mode in our fabricated subarrays that is robust to changing numbers of pillars within the subarrays as well as to defects intentionally introduced in the form of missing pillars. This work therefore illustrates the hierarchical design of tailored LSPhP resonances and modal near-field profiles simultaneously for a variety of IR applications such as surface-enhanced spectroscopies and biochemical sensing.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mitigation and Diagnosis of Pin-Hole Formation in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

In this work, we implement a calendering technique to flatten stray fibers within the gas diffusion media, thereby mitigating pin-hole formation in the hot-pressed MEAs. We have investigated the influence of calendering on the long-term durability for several types of gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) using a combined chemical and mechanical accelerated stress test (AST). The calendered MEAs demonstrate an average AST lifetime improvement of 77% relative to the as-fabricated MEAs.

AMR↗
DOE OSTI2024

Effect of Part Size, Displacement Rate, and Aging on Compressive Properties of Elastomeric Parts of Different Unit Cell Topologies Formed by Vat Photopolymerization Additive Manufacturing

Due to its ability to achieve geometric complexity at high resolution and low length scales, additive manufacturing (AM) has increasingly been used for fabricating cellular structures (e.g., foams and lattices) for a variety of applications. Specifically, elastomeric cellular structures offer tunability of compliance as well as energy absorption and dissipation characteristics. However, there are limited data available on compression properties for printed elastomeric cellular structures of different designs and testing parameters. In this work, the authors evaluate how unit cell topology, part size, the rate of compression, and aging affect the compressive response of polyurethane-based simple cubic, body-centered, and gyroid structures formed by vat photopolymerization AM. Finite element simulations incorporating hyperelastic and viscoelastic models were used to describe the data, and the simulated results compared well with the experimental data. Of the designs tested, only the parts with the body-centered unit cell exhibited differences in stress–strain responses at different part sizes. Of the compression rates tested, the highest displacement rate (1000 mm/min) often caused stiffer compressive behavior, indicating deviation from the quasi-static assumption and approaching the intermediate rate response. The cellular structures did not change in compression properties across five weeks of aging time, which is desirable for cushioning applications. This work advances knowledge on the structure–property relationships of printed elastomeric cellular materials, which will enable more predictable compressive properties that can be traced to specific unit cell designs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Controlled Assembly of Upconverting Nanoparticles for Low-Threshold Microlasers and Their Imaging in Scattering Media

Micron-sized lasers fabricated from upconverting nanoparticles (UCNP) coupled to whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators can exhibit continuous-wave anti-Stokes lasing useful for tracking cells, environmental sensing, and coherent stimulation of biological activity. The integration of these microlasers into organisms and microelectronics requires even smaller diameters, however, which raises threshold pump powers beyond practical limits for biological applications. To meet the need for low lasing thresholds and high fidelity fabrication methods, we use correlative optical and electron microscopy to uncover the nanoparticle assembly process and structural factors that determine efficient upconverted lasing. We show that 5 μm microspheres with controlled submonolayer UCNP coatings exhibit, on average, 25-fold lower laser thresholds (1.7 ± 0.7 kW/cm 2 ) compared to the mean values of the lowest threshold UCNP lasers, and variability is reduced 30-fold. WGMs are observed in the upconversion spectra for TiO 2 -coated microspheres as small as 3 μm, a size at which optical losses had previously prevented such observations. Finally, we demonstrate that the WGM signatures of these upconverting microlasers can be imaged and distinguished through tissue-mimicking phantoms. These advances will enable the fabrication of more efficient upconverting lasers for imaging, sensing, and actuation in optically complex environments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Conversion efficiency improvement of ELO GaAs solar cell, deposited on water soluble sacrificial buffer

Here, we demonstrate the improvement of power conversion efficiency of an epitaxially-lifted-off single junction GaAs solar cell deposited on a water-soluble sacrificial buffer architecture by introducing an additional germanium (Ge) interlayer between GaAs and the fluoride buffer. The epitaxial lift-off (ELO) technique has been extensively used to separate III-V device layers from their single crystal GaAs substrates. However, conventional ELO requires the use of concentrated hydrofluoric acid (HF) for extended times to etch out the sacrificial layer, subsequently degrading the surface roughness of the parent wafer. As a result, the wafer has to undergo expensive and intensive chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processes, costing about 25% of a pristine 6-inch GaAs substrate. In our previous work, we demonstrated a method to eliminating the need for CMP post-processing by using water-assisted ELO (H 2 O-ELO). A water-soluble, 3-layer buffer architecture was developed using alkaline earth compounds. However, devices suffered low performance due to a high defect density in the GaAs active layers. A Ge interlayer was introduced to provide a more favorable surface energy for GaAs growth, which leads to an improvement of GaAs crystal quality. The Ge deposition conditions were optimized to achieve a high-quality Ge layer on triple-layer fluoride buffer. Single junction GaAs devices fabricated on Ge/(Ca,Sr)F 2 /BaF 2 /(Ca,Sr)F 2 showed improvement of solar cell performance parameters featuring increases in V oc by 23.7%, and fill factor (F.F.) by 4.9%, which results in an overall improvement of power conversion efficiency from 10.3% to 12.69%.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

VTO_2021_APR_LLNL_Ye

Traditional batteries are composed of two-dimensional films that are stacked and/or rolled. Thin film batteries display high power density while their thick film counterparts show good energy density, but it has proven difficult to concurrently achieve both within these planar form factors. In addition, conventional Li-ion batteries based on liquid organic electrolytes or gel polymer electrolytes have raised severe safety concerns due to the intrinsic flammable properties of the organic electrolytes. They are also not ideal for the use of high energy density metallic lithium (Li) anodes due to Li dendrite growth, or sulfur cathodes due to shuttling effects that result in fast capacity fade. There is an urgent need to develop safe, high-performance solid-state batteries (SSBs) with advanced electrolyte and separator technologies. Although in recent years a series of superionic conductors have been developed for electrolytes and separators, their performance does not satisfy demanding criteria due to large impedance from poor solid electrolyte-electrode contact and questionable electrochemical and mechanical stability. Unlike the well-established roll-to-roll fabrication of conventional Li-ion batteries, the processing of SSBs is unique due to the brittleness of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). The commercially available or lab-developed SSE discs are usually very thick (hundreds of micrometers to millimeters) to overcome their brittle nature, which unfortunately increases the cell impedance and accounts for the majority of the overall cell weight and volume, leading to dramatically decreased power and energy densities. In this project, we will investigate 3D printing techniques to overcome safety, fabrication, mechanical, and electrochemical issues in SSBs. 3D printing builds complex structures in a layer-by-layer fashion, which allows rapid production of hierarchical architectures, gradient and multi-material structures, and multi-component assemblies. 3D printing is an emerging area that could fundamentally transform energy storage devices. For example, 3D printing can produce batteries with arbitrary form factors to fit a product’s specific volume requirements and can create interwoven electrode arrangements over a wide range of length scales to improve transport and increase power density for a given energy density. For SSBs, 3D printing may dramatically reduce the separator thickness from ~1 mm (by hydraulic pressing) to tens of micrometers or less. In addition, the interfacial contact area between the electrolyte and the electrode may be increased via 3D interdigitated designs. Hence, we expect a significant reduction of the overall cell impedance and enhancement of both energy and power densities of SSBs by harnessing an array of 3D printing technologies being developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Applications of atomic layer deposition and chemical vapor deposition for perovskite solar cells

Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have rapidly evolved over the past decade to become a photovoltaic technology on the cusp of commercialization. In the process, numerous fabrication strategies have been explored with the goal of simultaneously optimizing for device efficiency, stability, and scalability. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have proven to be effective tools for the fabrication of various components of PSCs. This review article examines the application of ALD and CVD for the deposition and modification of charge transport layers, passivation layers, absorber materials, encapsulants, and electrodes. It outlines the use of these vapor deposition techniques in state-of-the-art, multi-junction solar cell devices, and also contains a discussion of the stability of metal halide perovskite materials under ALD and CVD conditions based on in situ characterization reported in literature. Finally, this article concludes with insights into future ALD and CVD research directions that could be undertaken to further aid the deployment of PSCs in emerging solar photovoltaic markets.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Pulsed Laser Annealed Ga Hyperdoped Poly‐Si / SiO x Passivating Contacts for High‐Efficiency Monocrystalline Si Solar Cells

Polycrystalline Si ( poly ‐Si)‐based passivating contacts are promising candidates for high‐efficiency crystalline Si solar cells. We show that nanosecond‐scale pulsed laser melting (PLM) is an industrially viable technique to fabricate such contacts with precisely controlled dopant concentration profiles that exceed the solid solubility limit. We demonstrate that conventionally doped, hole‐selective poly ‐Si/SiO x contacts that provide poor surface passivation of c ‐Si can be replaced with Ga‐ or B‐doped contacts based on non‐equilibrium doping. We overcome the solid solubility limit for both dopants in poly ‐Si by rapid cooling and recrystallization over a timescale of ∼25 ns. We show an active Ga dopant concentration of ∼3 × 10 20 cm −3 in poly ‐Si which is six times higher than its solubility limit in c ‐Si, and a B dopant concentration as high as ∼10 21 cm −3 . We measure an implied open‐circuit voltage of 735 mV for Ga‐doped poly ‐Si/SiO x contacts on Czochralski Si with a low contact resistivity of 35.5 ± 2.4 mΩ cm 2 . Scanning spreading resistance microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy show large diffusion and drift current in the p ‐ n junction that contributes to the low contact resistivity. Our results suggest that PLM can be extended for hyperdoping of other semiconductors with low solubility atoms to enable high‐efficiency devices.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enabling ITO-free perovskite solar cells through n-doped poly(benzodifurandione) (n-PBDF) electrodes

The burgeoning commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is propelled by their exceptional power conversion efficiency (PCE), enhanced stability, and ease of fabrication. However, the rigidity of mainstream transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) limits the adaptability of PSCs to various application scenarios. Although alternative materials such as silver nanowires, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and PEDOT:PSS have been evaluated, the p-type nature confines their device designs to inverted architecture and restricts broader applicability. Here, for the first time, a conducting polymer electrode based on n-doped poly(benzodifurandione) (n-PBDF) was used to replace TCOs in PSCs. The n-PBDF electrodes can be readily fabricated via low-temperature, solution-based processes, indicating substantial potential for reducing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, its integration into PSCs has negligible effect on the phase, morphology, or photophysical properties of the perovskite layer, which is comparable to the typical TCOs. After optimization, the n-PBDF-based device achieves a power conversion efficiency of 12.70 and 11.23%, for rigid and flexible devices, respectively. Our study provides a promising alternative to the widely used TCOs in PSCs, highlighting the advantages of using n-doped conducting polymers in terms of processability and flexibility.

Kumar, Prashant [Purdue University, West Lafayette↗
DOE OSTI2021

Thermally Conductive Backsheets (TCB) of PV Modules: Positive Impacts on Performance, Lifetime and LCOE

The operating temperatures of photovoltaic (PV) modules can be impacted by the selection of specific packaging materials, e.g., backsheets and encapsulants. This research focuses on the evaluation of operating temperature reduction of one-cell modules by comparing conventional Tedlar/polyester/Tedlar (TPT) backsheet with novel thermally conductive backsheets (TCBs) materials. A large number of one-cell modules with two TCB types (TCB_A and TCB_B) and baseline TPT type were fabricated and installed in three different climatic conditions of the hot-dry desert in Arizona (high and low wind speed locations) and North Carolina (temperate with low wind speed location). In this study, these two TCBs were compared with conventional TPT backsheet in terms of performance, lifetime and levelized cost of energy (LCOE). The field results were analyzed for thermal performance of TCBs compared to TPT at three sites for two and half years. This study concludes that the thermal and electrical performances of the PV modules can be improved by using TCB_A in hot and dry climate sites and TCB_B at temperate climate sites. Therefore, the lifetime of TCB-based modules is expected to be higher than TPT-based modules. Using backsheet-specific power degradation levels and assuming the same cost for both types of backsheets, the LCOE of modules using TCBs is estimated to be lower than that of TPT.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗