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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Laboratory instrumentation and techniques for characterizing multi-junction solar cells for space applications

Multi-junction solar cells are attractive for space applications because they can be designed to convert a larger fraction of AMO into electrical power at a lower cost than single-junction cells. The performance of multi-junction cells is much more sensitive to the spectral irradiance of the illuminating source than single-junction cells. The design of high efficiency multi-junction cells for space applications requires matching the optoelectronic properties of the junctions to AMO spectral irradiance. Unlike single-junction cells, it is not possible to carry out quantum efficiency measurements using only a monochromatic probe beam and determining the cell short-circuit current assuming linearity of the quantum efficiency. Additionally, current-voltage characteristics can not be calculated from measurements under non-AMO light sources using spectral-correction methods. There are reports in the literature on characterizing the performance of multi junction cells by measuring and convoluting the quantum efficiency of each junction with the spectral irradiance; the technique is of limited value for the characterization of cell performance under AMO power-generating conditions. We report the results of research to develop instrumentation and techniques for characterizing multi junction solar cells for space . An integrated system is described which consists of a standard lamp, spectral radiometer, dual-source solar simulator, and personal computer based current-voltage and quantum efficiency equipment. The spectral radiometer is calibrated regularly using the tungsten-halogen standard lamp which has a calibration based on NIST scales. The solar simulator produces the light bias beam for current-voltage and cell quantum efficiency measurements. The calibrated spectral radiometer is used to 'fit' the spectral irradiance of the dual-source solar simulator to WRL AMO data. The quantum efficiency apparatus includes a monochromatic probe beam for measuring the absolute cell quantum efficiency at various voltage biases, including the voltage bias corresponding to the maximum-power point under AMO light bias. The details of the procedures to 'fit' the spectral irradiance to AMO will be discussed. An assessment of the role of the accuracy of the 'fit' of the spectral irradiance and probe beam intensity on measured cell characteristics will be presented. quantum efficiencies were measured with both spectral light bias and AMO light bias; the measurements show striking differences. Spectral irradiances were convoluted with cell quantum efficiencies to calculate cell currents as function of voltage. The calculated currents compare with measured currents at the 1% level. Measurements on a variety of multi-junction cells will be presented. The dependence of defects in junctions on cell quantum efficiencies measured under light and voltage bias conditions will be presented. Comments will be made on issues related to standards for calibration, and limitations of the instrumentation and techniques. Expeditious development of multi-junction solar cell technology for space presents challenges for cell characterization in the laboratory.

Woodyard, James R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Effect of impurities and processing on silicon solar cells. Volume 1: Characterization methods for impurities in silicon and impurity effects data base

Two major topics are treated: methods to measure and evaluate impurity effects in silicon and comprehensive tabulations of data derived during the study. Discussions of deep level spectroscopy, detailed dark I-V measurements, recombination lifetime determination, scanned laser photo-response, conventional solar cell I-V techniques, and descriptions of silicon chemical analysis are presented and discussed. The tabulated data include lists of impurity segregation coefficients, ingot impurity analyses and estimated concentrations, typical deep level impurity spectra, photoconductive and open circuit decay lifetimes for individual metal-doped ingots, and a complete tabulation of the cell I-V characteristics of nearly 200 ingots.

Hopkins, R. H.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chapter 8: Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Characterization of Polycrystalline Thin-Film Solar Cells

This chapter describes some photoluminescence (PL) approaches to characterize thin film solar cells with emphasis on time-resolved methods. Spectral PL analysis is complementary and was recently reviewed. Since TRPL is not very commonly used in PV characterization, we consider interface and bulk recombination in the test structures and in devices, briefly describe charge-carrier transport and recombination microscopy, and finally, summarize and compare some CdTe, CdSeTe, CIGS, kesterite, and perovskite EO characteristics.

bulk recombination↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Dust Characterization Experiment for Solar Cells Operating on Mars

During the Viking and Pathfinder missions to Mars, significant amounts of dust accumulated on the spacecrafts. In Pathfinder's case, the dust obscured the solar panels on the lander and the rover degrading their output current. The material adherence experiment aboard the Pathfinder rover quantified the rate of decrease in short circuit current at 0.28% per day. This rate is unacceptably high for long duration missions. In response, NASA has developed the Dust Accumulation and Removal Technology (DART) experiment. DART has three instruments for characterizing dust settling out of the atmosphere and tests two methods to keep dust from settling on solar cells.

Jenkins, Phillip↗
DOE OSTI2020

Operando Microscopy Characterization of Perovskite Solar Cells

In this work, we developed operando Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) to study the electrostatic potential distribution across perovskite cells under light and forward bias to gain a deeper understanding of device operation physics. As a case study, we selected perovskite cells with a SnO 2 -based electron-selective layer (ESL), which showed great potential for fabricating high-efficiency, hysteresis-free devices due to the deeper conduction band and higher electron mobility of SnO 2 . The as-made device showed a main junction at the perovskite/spiro interface. After light soaking and applying forward bias, the junction quality improved, possibly explained by filling trap states at the interfaces and by the perovskite absorber perhaps having a self-poling effect; the main junction is observed at the ESL/perovskite interface. The results are consistent with current-voltage measurements, device performance improves mainly with fill factor enhancement. The operando KPFM results should more closely reflect the real case during current density-voltage measurements or solar cell operation. The operando KPFM technique that we have developed can be a powerful tool to provide a deeper understanding of the device operation mechanism and to further optimize the device.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1985

Characterization of terrestrial solar cells for space applications: Electrical characteristics of thin Westinghouse dendritic web cells as a function of solar intensity, temperature, and incidence angle

Electrical characteristics of thin (100- and 140-micron) Westinghouse dendritic-web N/P silicon solar cells are presented in graphical and tabular format as a function of solar illumination intensity and temperature. Performance is also shown as a function of solar illlumination angle of incidence for AMO.

Stella, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Raman scattering characterization of space solar cell structures

A contactless method for the determination of the free-carrier density and the composition distribution across the thickness of 3-5 multi-layer solar cell structures, using the Raman scattering method, is developed. The method includes a step analysis of Raman spectra from optical phonons and phonon-plasmon modes of different layers. The method provides simultaneous measurements of the element composition and the thickness of the structure's layers together with the free-carrier density. The results of measurements of the free-carrier density composition distributions of the liquid phase epitaxy grown AlGaAs/GaAs and GaSb solar cell structures are presented and discussed.

Mintairov, Alexander M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Measurement and Characterization of Concentrator Solar Cells II

Concentrator solar cells are continuing to get more consideration for use in power systems. This interest is because concentrator systems can have a net lower cost per watt in solar cell materials plus ongoing improvements in sun-tracking technology. Quantitatively measuring the efficiency of solar cells under concentration is difficult. Traditionally, the light concentration on solar cells has been determined by using a ratio of the measured solar cell s short circuit current to that at one sun, this assumes that current changes proportionally with light intensity. This works well with low to moderate (<20 suns) concentration levels on "well-behaved" linear cells but does not apply when cells respond superlinearly, current increases faster than intensity, or sublinearly, current increases more slowly than intensity. This paper continues work on using view factors to determine the concentration level and linearity of the solar cell with mathematical view factor analysis and experimental results [1].

Scheiman, Dave↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Electroluminescence Imaging: A Quantitative Characterization Technique to Measure Dust Occlusion of Solar Cells

Electroluminescence (EL) imaging is a qualitative characterization technique that is typically used to identify cracks, corrosion, and other defects in solar cells. It consists of imaging a cell under forward bias, where the solar cell emits photons due to radiative electron-hole pair recombination. Over the past few years, our team has expanded this into a quantitative technique with the help of image processing. We have primarily used this method to investigate lunar dust occlusion of solar cells and arrays. Lunar dust accumulation on solar cells is a major concern because it directly limits light accessible to the cell, decreasing power output. Many teams are working to develop dust mitigation technology to protect these arrays on the surface of the Moon, but thoroughly characterizing their efficacy is important to ensure their success prior to launch. Here, we present EL as a quantitative characterization technique to observe dust coverage on solar cells that, when coupled with IV performance measurements, can offer unique insights into how dust coverage impacts power output. Quantitative electroluminescence imaging works by running EL images through an image processing script that first grayscales the image then plots a histogram of the brightness of each pixel. On its own, it does not offer much insight into a solar cell’s performance. However, when comparing images to a baseline pristine, undamaged, or uncoated solar cell, it can quickly provide information about the impacts of surface contaminants or damage to the cell. Here, we present a case study where quantitative EL is used to measure the efficacy of dust mitigation technology for flexible solar arrays and discuss the lessons learned about dust mitigation, testing with lunar simulant, and this characterization technique.

photovoltaics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Doping with phosphorus reduces anion vacancy disorder in CdSeTe semiconductors enabling higher solar cell efficiency

Doping is used in many pn junction devices, such as polycrystalline solar cells, to increase the strength of the junction field to assist charge carrier collection and thus partially mitigate nonradiative recombination losses. We demonstrate a different doping characteristic for inorganic solar cells: using dopants to reduce charge carrier trapping and electronic band tails. Alloying CdTe with Se to form CdSeTe semiconductor reduced recombination, but CdSeTe has more complex defect states which can limit further efficiency gains due to charge carrier trapping and trap-limited mobility. Doping CdSeTe with P (but not N, As, or Sb in this study) reduces band tails (Urbach energies) and lessens the impact of the near valence band trap states, with ambipolar mobilities improving to >50 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , fill factor increasing from 76% to 79%, and efficiencies increasing by 0.9% absolute. Simulations are used to show how such defect reduction improves performance in the radiative limit.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1981

Silicon solar cell process development, fabrication, and analysis

Work has progressed in fabrication and characterization of solar cells from ubiquitous crystallization process (UCP) wafers and LASS ribbons. Gettering tests applied to UCP wafers made little change on their performance compared with corresponding baseline data. Advanced processes such as shallow junction (SJ), back surface field (BSF), and multilayer antireflection (MLAR) were also applied. While BSF by Al paste had shunting problems, cells with SJ and BSF by evaporated Al, and MLAR did achieve 14.1% AMI on UCP silicon. The study of LASS material was very preliminary. Only a few cells with SJ, BSR, (no BSF) and MLAR were completed due to mechanical yield problems after lapping the material. Average efficiency was 10.7% AMI with 13.4% AMI for CZ controls. Relatively high minority carrier diffusion lengths were obtained. The lower than expected Jsc could be partially explained by low active area due to irregular sizes.

Yoo, H. I.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Defect Characterization of Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cells with Polysilicon Passivated Contact Using Electrically-Detected Magnetic Resonance (EDMR) Spectroscopy

As the c-Si based solar cell efficiencies are approaching over 26%, it is becoming critical to characterize the low concentrations of the defects – as low as 10^10-10^11 cm-3 (for e.g., iron contamination in high-lifetime Ga-doped wafers3 and n-type wafers), and further reduce them. Also, atomistic level understanding of the mechanisms of the low concentration process-induced-defects and reliability limiting defects (such as light and elevated temperature induced degradation, surface passivation degradation) is needed to design the mitigation strategies. The conventional characterization techniques are limited due to their detection limitations. Some of the techniques based on lifetime spectroscopies can still be used for low concentration characterization however, they are based on estimations and theoretical models and hence, indirect and cannot fully reveal information about the microscopic mechanism of the defects. Thus, we present the application of an ultrasensitive magnetic resonance-based technique for the direct spectroscopic detection of the defects in Si PV - electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR). In this work, we aim to focus on establishing a process flow for fabrication of minicells with (miniature replica of the larger-area cells) and setting up the routine for EDMR measurements on them with the EDMR instrumentation capability at NREL. For the EDMR measurements, sample size is limited by the dimensions of sample holder tube (width less than 3.2 mm, active area - 20 mm). Thus, we have designed c-Si based minicells with polysilicon (poly-Si) passivated contacts same as the larger-area cells that we fabricate in our group at NREL. We also modified our minicell process flow for fabricating the textured minicells for preserving the texture during processing and taking care of the laser-ablation edge damage which can significantly affect the performance of such small devices. We have achieved comparable performance on these newly fabricated minicells as that of our 4 cm2 devices with same structure (comparable VOC, JSC, FF). We also conducted EDMR measurements on the minicells and observed a distinct EDMR signal at g-value ~2.005 at temperatures 30K and above, as shown in Fig. 2. We associate this signal to the presence of silicon dangling bonds based on the g-value. We also observed an EDMR signal at g-value ~1.998 at temperature ~5K. The origin of this signal is still being investigated. Thus, we show the proof of concept of minicells and EDMR measurements with which we now aim to study some of the unknown defects in silicon solar cell devices.

EDMR↗
NASA NTRS1999

Progress of the Mars Array Technology Experiment (MATE) on the '01 Lander

Future missions to Mars will rely heavily on solar power from the sun, various solar cell types and structures must be evaluated to find the optimum. Sunlight on the surface of Mars is altered by air-borne dust that fluctuates in density from day to day. The dust affects both the intensity and spectral content of the sunlight. The MATE flight experiment was designed for this purpose and will fly on the Mars 2001 Surveyor Lander as part of the Mars In-Situ Propellant Production Precursor (MIP) package. MATE will measure the performance of several solar cell technologies and characterize the Martian environment in terms of solar power. This will be done by measuring full IV curves on solar cells, direct and global insolation, temperature, and spectral content. The Lander is is scheduled to launch in April 2001 and arrive on Mars in January of 2002. The site location has not been identified but will be near the equator and last from 100 to 300 days. The intent of this of this paper is to describe and update the progress on MATE. MATE has four main objectives for its mission to Mars. First is to measure the performance of solar cells daily on the surface of Mars, this will determine the day to day fluctuations in sunlight and temperature and provide a nominal power output. Second, in addition to measuring solar cell performance, it will allow for an intercomparison of different solar cell technologies. Third, It will study the long term effects of dust on the solar cells. Fourth and last, it will characterize the mars environment as viewed by the solar cell, measuring spectrum, insolation, and temperature. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Scheiman, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Characterization testing of MEASAT GaAs/Ge solar cell assemblies

The first commercial communications satellite with gallium-arsenide on germanium (GaAs/Ge) solar arrays is scheduled for launch in December 1995. The spacecraft, named MEASAT, was built by hughes Space and Telecommunications company for Binariang Satellite Systems of Malaysia. The solar cell assemblies consisted of large area GaAs/Ge cells supplied by Spectrolab Inc. with infrared reflecting (IRR) coverglass supplied by Pilkington Space Technology. A comprehensive characterization program was performed on the GaAs/Ge solar cell assemblies used on the MEASAT array. This program served two functions; first to establish the database needed to accurately predict on-orbit performance under a variety of conditions; and second, to demonstrate the ability of the solar cell assemblies to withstand all mission environments while still providing the required power at end-of-life. characterization testing included measurement of electrical performance parameters as a function of radiation exposure, temperature, and angle of incident light; reverse bias stability; optical and thermal properties; mechanical strength tests, panel fabrication, humidity and thermal cycling environmental tests. The results provided a complete database enabling the design of the MEASAT solar array, and demonstrated that the GaAs/Ge cells meet the spacecraft requirements at end-of-life.

Brown, Mike R.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Characterization testing of MEASAT GaAs/Ge solar cell assemblies

The first commercial communications satellite with gallium-arsenide on germanium (GaAs/Ge) solar arrays is scheduled for launch in December 1995. The spacecraft, named MEASAT, was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company. The solar cell assemblies consisted of large area GaAs/Ge cells supplied by Spectrolab Inc. with infrared reflecting (IRR) coverglass supplied by Pilkington Space Technology. A comprehensive characterization program was performed on the GaAs/Ge solar cell assemblies used on the MEASAT array. This program served two functions; first to establish the database needed to accurately predict on-orbit performance under a variety of conditions; and second, to demonstrate the ability of the solar cell assemblies to withstand all mission environments while still providing the required power at end-of-life. Characterization testing included measurement of electrical performance parameters as a function of radiation exposure, temperature, and angle of incident light; reverse bias stability; optical and thermal properties; mechanical strength tests, panel fabrication, humidity and thermal cycling environmental tests. The results provided a complete database enabling the design of the MEASAT solar array, and demonstrated that the GaAs/Ge cells meet the spacecraft requirements at end-of-life.

Brown, Mike R.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Angle of Incidence Characterization of Six Laminated Solar Cells for 2020 DTU Fotonik Inter-Laboratory Comparison Study

Photovoltaic energy prediction models include functions or modifiers to account for sun angle reflection losses. These functions may be known interchangeably as Angle of Incidence (AOI) or Incident Angle Modifier (IAM). While standards exist, there is no universally accepted single best practice for developing these functions. They can be generated through characterization of representative modules or single cells, in natural sunlight or indoors using simulated light sources. Repeatability of measurements and the viability of cross-laboratory comparisons are critical to confidence in validation of both methods. To investigate the differences between methods and labs, The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) initiated an international round-robin test comparison between several key test labs with AOI measurement capability. A total of six minimodules were provided in three different cell/interconnect/backsheet combinations. Sandia characterized these minimodules using methods developed over two decades specifically for the outdoor characterization of full-size photovoltaic modules. This report documents the characterization results, summarizes key observations and tabulates the processed data for comparison to results provided by other characterization labs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1984

Diffused junction p(+)-n solar cells in bulk GaAs. II - Device characterization and modelling

The photovoltaic characteristics of p(+)-n junction solar cells fabricated on bulk GaAs by an open tube diffusion technique are presented in detail. Quantum efficiency measurements were analyzed and compared to computer simulations of the cell structure in order to determine material parameters such as diffusion length, surface recombination velocity and junction depth. From the results obtained it is projected that proper optimization of the cell parameters can increase the efficiency of the cells to close to 20 percent.

Keeney, R.↗