Active area: The surface area of the photovoltaic module responsible for the conversion of light into electricity Adhesive: A material used to bond two surfaces together Amorphous silicon cell (a-Si): A classification of thin-film photovoltaic cells composed of noncrystalline silicon that lacks long-range order and uniform lattice structure; typical Eg = 1.7 eV Antireflective coating: […]

TABLE A.1 Metric System Prefixes, Symbol, and Conversion Factors Prefix Symbol Conversion Factor Giga G 1,000,000,000 Mega M 1,000,000 Kilo k 1,000 Hecto h 100 Deca da 10 1 Deci d 0.1 Centi c 0.01 Milli m 0.001 Micro P 0.000001 TABLE A.2 Example of Applying These Prefixes to Length Measured in Meters Prefix Symbol […]

Entire books have been devoted to the niche discipline of polymeric photo­voltaic solar cells, also known as organic solar cells. It is not the intent of this section to cover the expansive research in this area but to provide the reader with an overview of the application’s current feasibility and limitations as it relates to […]

The goal of luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) is to simultaneously decrease costs and increase efficiency. Traditionally, LSCs are designed to absorb unusable light and re-emit it at wavelengths with the highest effi­ciency for the underlying PV cell. By increasing the concentration of highest – efficiency light, material costs decrease because fewer PV cells are required […]

Parabolic concentrators and reflectors use metallic surfaces to concen­trate light. Parabolic concentrators are composed of two parabolic mirrors, referred to as the first and the secondary. The first mirror reflects light from the Sun to the secondary mirror elevated above the first. The secondary mir­ror focuses light back onto the underlying PV cell. Parabolic concentratorsoften […]

There are a number of design considerations to ensure a lens efficiently focuses light rays onto a focal point. The two relevant for this discussion are geometry and material selection. Design considerations include the geomet­ric shape, the wavelength with the highest quantum efficiency for the PV cell, and the refractive index of the materials used […]

Between 2004 and 2008, silicon supply constraints caused more than a dou­bling of raw material cost [14]. In an effort to further reduce production costs, PV manufacturers have tried to reduce the amount of costly semiconductor material used in the module. These initiatives have generated interest in con­centrated photovoltaics (CPVs). CPVs use polymeric lenses and […]

Looking at the cross section of a module, there is a large disparity between the refractive index of PV cells (e. g., silicon) and packaging materials (e. g., glass and encapsulant) (Table 6.5). For instance, soda lime glass is about two units away from silicon. Most PV manufacturers make packaging choices to minimize the refractive […]