Mines Researchers Explore Way to Reduce Cost of High-efficiency Solar Cells
August 29, 2022 | Colorado School of MinesEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Researchers at Colorado School of Mines and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently published findings on a critical route to reducing the cost of high-efficiency solar cells in the high-impact journal Advanced Energy Materials.
Corinne Packard, associate professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, led the research, facilitated by her joint appointment at NREL. Co-authors include current Mines PhD student Anna Braun, former postdoctoral researcher Jie Chen, and recent graduate Jason Chenenko M.S. ’21, as well as NREL researchers (and Mines alumni) John Mangum PhD ’19 and Harvey Guthrey PhD ’13.
“One of the largest costs in producing high-efficiency solar cells is the substrate crystal, which is necessary to get proper atomic alignment for defect-free crystal growth to form the solar cell,” Packard said. “But only a small percentage of the total substrate thickness is actually necessary for the performance of the device.”
To address that challenge, Packard’s team in the Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics (CCAC) has been working on a fracture process to remove the device from the substrate so that the substrate can be reused.
But while device performance has remained the same after removal, the fracturing process leaves behind a surface that while chemically pristine, is not perfectly smooth. Re-preparing the surface for reuse can be expensive, Packard said.
“We attempted to skip that step entirely and grow a new solar cell structure directly on the fracture surface of the remaining substrate crystal. We studied the effect of local surface morphology imperfections on device performance and identified the underlying causes of local device performance degradation around specific types of surface defects,” Packard said. “What we found is that areas free of surface defects yield device efficiencies just as high as we get on conventional, highly polished, new substrate crystals, which is very promising for direct regrowth on spalled wafers.”
Suggested Items
IDTechEx Report Unveils 3D Electronics Status and Opportunities
04/22/2024 | PRNewswire3D electronics is an emerging manufacturing approach that enables electronics to be integrated within or onto the surface of objects. 3D electronic manufacturing techniques empower new features, including mass customizability, greater integration, and improved sustainability in the electronics industry.
NASA, Japan Advance Space Cooperation, Sign Agreement for Lunar Rover
04/11/2024 | NASANASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama have signed an agreement to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon.
Lockheed Martin Conducts Historic LRASM Flight Test
04/04/2024 | Lockheed MartinThe U.S. Navy in partnership with Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully conducted a historic Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) flight test with four missiles simultaneously in flight.
Ynvisible Appoints Felix Karlsson as Director
04/02/2024 | Ynvisible Interactive Inc.Ynvisible Interactive Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Felix Karlsson as a Director of the Company effective immediately.
Plasmatreat at IPC APEX EXPO 2024
04/02/2024 | PlasmatreatFor the pretreatment of highly sensitive electronic components, Plasmatreat will present a real innovation at the IPC APEX Expo in Anaheim 2024: The new REDOX tool safely and effectively reduces oxide layers on electronic components in an inline process.