Super high-efficiency multi-junction and concentrator solar cells

III–V compound multi-junction (MJ) (tandem) solar cells have the potential for achieving high conversion efficiencies of over 50% and are promising for space and terrestrial applications.We have proposed AlInP–InGaP double hetero (DH) structure top cell, wide-band gap InGaP DH structure tunnel junction for sub cell interconnection, and lattice-matched InGaAs middle cell. In 2004, we have successfully fabricated world-record efficiency concentrator InGaP/InGaAs/Ge 3-junction solar cells with an efficiency of 37.4% at 200-suns AM1.5 as a result of widening top cell band gap, current matching of sub cells, precise lattice matching of sub cell materials, proposal of InGaP–Ge heteroface bottom cell, and introduction of DH-structure tunnel junction. In addition, we have realized high-efficiency concentrator InGaP/InGaAs/Ge 3-junction solar cell modules (with area of 7000 cm²) with an out-door efficiency of 27% as a result of developing high-efficiency InGaP/InGaAs/Ge 3-junction cells, low optical loss Fresnel lens and homogenizers, and designing low thermal conductivity modules.Future prospects are also presented. We have proposed concentrator III–V compound MJ solar cells as the 3rd-generation solar cells in addition to 1st-generation crystalline Si solar cells and 2nd-generation thin-film solar cells. We are now challenging to develop low-cost and high output power concentrator MJ solar cell modules with an output power of 400 W/m² for terrestrial applications and high-efficiency, light-weight and low-cost MJ solar cells for space applications.     

基于太阳能热驱动甲烷重整制氢的燃料电池发电系统性能研究

该文采用Aspen Plus软件建立膜反应器重整制氢及燃料电池模型,根据拉萨某日太阳能直接辐射强度（DNI）变化计算太阳能可供使用的能量,作为外热源输入重整系统,并分析反应温度、水碳比（S/C）及DNI对该系统各性能指标的影响,性能指标包括甲烷转化率、H₂收率、电池功率及电压、太阳能转换为氢能的效率。结果表明：反应温度为500 ℃,S/C为2.5时有利于太阳能甲烷湿重整反应;系统日性能结果显示在某日10:00—20:00时,电池输出功率120 kW,太阳能-化学能转化效率0.368,系统发电效率0.225。     

迭层太阳电池中电流、电压及功率分配的理论分析

为了从理论上了解迭层太阳电池的工作特性,根据单结太阳电池直流模型提出了迭层电池的直流模型。并在模型基础上给出了描述迭层电池工作特性的方程组。在迭层电池模型和方程组的基础上,讨论了迭层电池开路状态和短路状态下电池内部电流,电压及功率分配。重点讨论了迭层电池对外做功情况下电流,电压功率在迭层电池中的分配。论证了迭层电池中,要求获得最大的功率输出。其子电池电流必须满足匹配关系。     

基于多传感器信息融合的太阳电池动态建模

为获取运动状态下太阳电池输出特性,提出一种基于多传感器信息融合的太阳电池动态建模方法。基于多传感器信息融合测量模型、欧式空间旋转理论、光照强度与太阳电池空间位置关系和太阳电池数学模型及其参数与光照强度之间耦合关系,构建太阳电池动态模型得到其动态输出特性。通过SIMPACK及Matlab/Simulink仿真软件建立太阳电池动态发电仿真平台验证了方法的有效性。结果表明,载体的运动明显影响了太阳电池输出特性,且在太阳电池输出最大功率点处的功率最大减少了18.038%。     

Solar energy—A look into power generation,challenges, and a solar‐powered future

Sun is an inexhaustible source of energy capable of fulfilling all the energy needs of humankind. The energy from the sun can be converted into electricity or used directly. Electricity can be generated from solar energy either directly using photovoltaic (PV) cells or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP) technology. Progress has been made to raise the efficiency of the PV solar cells that can now reach up to approximately 34.1% in multi‐junction PV cells. Electricity generation from concentrated solar technologies has a promising future as well, especially the CSP, because of its high capacity, efficiency, and energy storage capability. Solar energy also has direct application in agriculture primarily for water treatment and irrigation. Solar energy is being used to power the vehicles and for domestic purposes such as space heating and cooking. The most exciting possibility for solar energy is satellite power station that will be transmitting electrical energy from the solar panels in space to Earth via microwave beams. Solar energy has a bright future because of the technological advancement in this field and its environment‐friendly nature. The biggest challenge however facing the solar energy future is its unavailability all‐round the year, coupled with its high capital cost and scarcity of the materials for PV cells. These challenges can be met by developing an efficient energy storage system and developing cheap, efficient, and abundant PV solar cells. This article discusses the solar energy system as a whole and provides a comprehensive review on the direct and the indirect ways to produce electricity from solar energy and the direct uses of solar energy. The state‐of‐the‐art procedures being employed for PV characterization and performance rating have been summarized . Moreover, the technical, economic, environmental, and storage‐related challenges are discussed with possible solutions. Furthermore, a comprehensive list of future potential research directions in the field of direct and indirect electricity generation from solar energy is proposed.     

太阳电池非等宽主栅前电极栅线的优化设计

为提高太阳电池转换效率,降低生产成本,分析太阳电池功率损失机制,建立非等宽主栅太阳电池总体相对功率损失模型。通过求解该模型得到太阳电池最佳前电极栅线形状尺寸参数。采用PC1D软件进行仿真分析得到太阳电池的光电转换效率,该结果与理论值匹配度较高;当主栅线数为2～6时,非等宽主栅结构太阳电池相比于典型的等宽栅线结构太阳电池,光电转换效率分别提高了0.10%、0.09%、0.10%、0.09%和0.09%;主栅线总体积分别减少了0.72、0.68、0.64、0.58和0.47 mm³;细栅线总体积的增加量不超过0.07 mm³。表明非等主栅前电极栅线结构不仅提高了光电转换效率,也降低了银浆的使用量。     

Calculation of the performances of the a-Si:H/poly-Si multistacked solar cells

We investigated multistacked solar cells with a structure of metal/a-si: H (n-i-p)/poly-Si (n-p)/metal. This cell consists of two component cells; top n-i-p junction a-Si : H cell and a bottom n-p junction poly-Si cell. The solar cell conversion influencing factors were investigated in terms of film thickness, doping concentration, minority carrier lifetime, diffusion length, surface recombination, surface potential, AR coating, and circuit parameters of solar cells. The optimization of material and solar cell was carried out by using a PC-1D simulator. The main stream lines of the studies were the p-n junction poly-Si bottom cell, the p-i-n junction top a-Si : H cell, and the equivalent circuit examination. The optimized simulation results indicates that the 22% efficiency of multistacked solar cells can be achieved by optimizing parameters in each layer.     

辐射对太阳电池光电输出性能影响的定量研究

该文定量研究电子和质子辐射对太阳电池输出特性的影响。首先,证实作者前期工作得到的太阳电池输出电流-电压（I-V）模型仍适用于高能粒子辐射后的太阳电池;其次,由太阳电池输出电流-电压特征量定义一个等效电阻（Req）。采用最小二乘方曲线拟合方法,找到能够定量描述太阳电池能量转化效率（PCE）与等效电阻（Req）的关系,并且定量解释了经历电子和质子辐照的太阳电池的等效电阻（Req）同辐照剂量的关系。最后,扩展这个模型用于定量描述太阳电池外量子效率（EQE）与入射光子能量（hν）的关系,经拟合验证,该模型与实验数据十分吻合,理论同实验结果的相关系数R大于0.98,平均相对误差（ARE）小于3%。     

低温沉积硅薄膜电池及其在塑料衬底上的应用

采用射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积(RF-PECVD)技术,保持衬底温度在125℃沉积硅薄膜材料及电池,研究了硅烷浓度、辉光功率等沉积参数对材料和电池性能的影响。在125℃的低温条件下,通过优化沉积工艺,在玻璃衬底和PET塑料衬底上分别制备出效率达到6.8%和3.9%的单结非晶硅电池。在PET衬底上,将低温沉积非晶硅电池的技术应用于的叠层电池的顶电池,制备出效率为4.6%的非晶/微晶硅叠层电池。     

Energy efficiency improvement of water pumping system using synchronous reluctance motor fed by perovskite solar cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are in the forefront of third-generation of photovoltaics and gained a lot of attention as a very promising green technology toward direct solar energy conversion to electricity. PSCs are fabricated following solution-processed techniques at low temperature and they present high power conversion efficiency exceeding 25%, enabling them to be attractive alternative to the silicon-based devices. This research work proposes an efficient and cost-effective photovoltaic (PV) pumping system based on PSCs. For this purpose, lab-scale PSCs were fabricated and their characteristics were determined. In parallel, the geometry of a synchronous reluctance motor (SynRM) driving a 350 m³/day water pump was optimized for maximizing the output power, while minimizing the torque ripple simultaneously. In addition, a perovskite solar array feeding the SynRM via an inverter was designed and implemented. The inverter was properly regulated by a control system which optimized the maximum available power of the PSCs solar array and the SynRM characteristics. Finally, laboratory measurements were performed, including a power generator simulating the behavior of the PSCs array feeding the SynRM. The obtained results confirmed the experimental validation of the proposed approach.     

一种计算空间电池阵输出的新方法

在求解太阳电池阵输出的方法中,有的方法能求出输出功率,但不能求出输出电流、输出电压;有的虽能求出输出电流、电压,但未考虑太阳辐射光强对它们的影响。本文提出一种新的方法,能求出太阳电池阵工作温度、输出电流和输出电压,并考虑了太阳辐射光强的影响。该方法包括一个I-V特征关系式和一个能量平衡模型。光强和太阳电池的温度是I-V特征关系式中的变量。能量平衡模型是在稳态、忽略太阳电池的热容条件下建立的。用该种方法分析了安装在太阳能飞机上的太阳能电池阵。     

温度对多晶硅太阳电池性能影响的研究

对商业用冶金级和太阳能级多晶硅太阳电池不同温度下的性能参数做了分析,验证了太阳能级硅电池的性能优势。实验结果表明,随着温度T的升高,开路电压V_(oc),最大输出功率P_m,转换效率η近似线性下降,短路电流I_(sc)近似线性上升,填充因子FF的实验值和理论值变化趋势一致,当T40℃时,FF随T升高明显下降。对开路电压V_(oc)随温度T升高的线性下降速率dV_(oc)/dT进行定量分析。dI_(sc)/dT变化量与dV_(oc)/dT相比可以忽略。     

Temperature and wind speed impact on the efficiency of PV installations. Experience obtained from outdoor measurements in Greece

Although efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) modules is usually specified under standard test conditions (STC), their operation under real field conditions is of great importance for obtaining accurate prediction of their efficiency and power output. The PV conversion process, on top of the instantaneous solar radiation, depends also on the modules' temperature. Module temperature is in turn influenced by climate conditions as well as by the technical characteristics of the PV panels. Taking into consideration the extended theoretical background in the field so far, the current study is focused on the investigation of the temperature variation effect on the operation of commercial PV applications based on in-situ measurements at varying weather conditions. Particularly, one year outdoor data for two existing commercial (m-Si) PV systems operated in South Greece, i.e. an unventilated building-integrated (81 kW_p) one and an open rack mounted (150 kW_p) one, were collected and evaluated. The examined PV systems were equipped with back surface temperature sensors in order to determine module and ambient temperatures, while real wind speed measurements were also obtained for assessing the dominant effect of local wind speed on the PVs' thermal loss mechanisms. According to the results obtained, the efficiency (or power) temperature coefficient has been found negative, taking absolute values between 0.30%/°C and 0.45%/°C, with the lower values corresponding to the ventilated free-standing frames.     

不同容量和地区下光煤混合发电变工况性能研究

在构建系统集成模型的基础上,阐述光煤混合发电系统变工况性能计算方法。以3个地区和4种容量燃煤机组为例,研究集成模型、取代份额、辐射强度、地区和容量对光煤混合发电系统性能的影响规律。结果表明:机组容量和地区一定的情况下,全部取代1级抽汽且辐射强度最大时的系统节能效果最优;同机组不同地区开展混合发电时,太阳能资源丰富地的集热场面积最小,集热场换热效率和太阳能热电转换效率最大,年累计节能减排量大,静态投资回收期最短;同地区不同容量机组开展混合发电时,大容量机组年平均太阳能热电转换效率和年累计节能减排量最大,静态投资回收期最短。     

A new integrated single‐diode solar cell model for photovoltaic power prediction with experimental validation under real outdoor conditions

The output power prediction by a photovoltaic (PV) system is an important research area for which different techniques have been used. Solar cell modeling is one of the most used methods for power prediction, the accuracy of which strongly depends on the selection of cell parameters. In this study, a new integrated single‐diode solar cell model based on three, four, and five solar cell parameters is developed for the prediction of PV power generation. The experimental validation of the predicted results is done under outdoor climatic conditions for an Indian location. The predicted power by three models is found close to measured values within 4.29% to 4.76% accuracy range. The comparative power estimation analysis by these models shows that the three‐parameter model gives higher accuracy for low solar irradiance values <150 W/m², the four‐parameter model in the range of 150 to 500 W/m², and the five‐parameter model for >500 W/m². The present model is also compared with other models in literature and is found to be more accurate with less percentage error. The overall results also show that the power produced depends on temperature and solar radiation levels at a particular location. Thus, single solar cell model developed can be used with sufficient accuracy for power forecast of PV systems for any location worldwide. The follow‐up research areas are also identified.     

冷却剂流量对聚光型太阳能光伏系统效率的影响

针对聚光型太阳能光伏电池工作中温度升高会导致发电效率降低的问题,在太阳能模组上铺设有机工质循环管路对光伏电池进行冷却,通过冷凝器对管内有机工质吸收的热量进行收集利用,构建聚光型太阳能光伏/光热综合利用系统。建立传热模型,计算不同日照强度下模组的输出效率并与实验数据进行对比。实验结果表明:发电效率随日照强度的增加先增加后减小;对光伏电池进行冷却可提升系统输出效率;太阳能光伏发电及散热量利用效率合计可达60%。     

Efficiency analysis of a combined PEFC and bioethanol‐solar‐reforming system for individual houses

In this research, the development of a bioethanol reforming system for fuel cells (FBSR: fuel cell with bioethanol steam reforming) using sunlight as a heat source was investigated. The system was investigated using the experimental result of catalyst performance, and numerical analysis. If ethanol purity is high, the production method of the bioethanol used for the proposal system will not be limited. The overall efficiency of the production of electricity and heat power of this system was determined by examining its thermal output characteristic. The FBSR was introduced into standard individual houses in Sapporo, Japan, for analysis. The amount of hydrogen production, the production‐of‐electricity characteristic, and the thermal output characteristic were examined using meteorological data on representative days in March and August. Compared with the representative day in March (28.0 MJ day⁻¹), the solar radiation of the representative day in August (37.0 MJ day⁻¹) is large. However, the amount of solar radiation fluctuation of the representative day in August in this analysis is large compared with the representative day in March. It depends for the overall efficiency of the system on the amount of solar radiation fluctuation rather than the amount of solar radiation. As a result, the overall efficiency of the system, defined as the rate of power and heat output compared with the amount of solar heat collected, was calculated to be 47.4 and 41.9% on the representative days in March and August, respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

太阳烟囱发电系统及其固有的热力学不完善性分析

简述了太阳烟囱发电系统的工作原理，指出根据浮力产生的压强差的不同计算方法将得到不同的性能评价。基于这种发电系统的创始人Schliach给出的一个30MW的算例，计算了太阳集热棚和烟囱组合的第一定律效率及集热棚和烟囱各自的第二定律效率。说明太阳烟囱发电技术实质上是太阳热发电，受热力学定律的制约。虽然太阳集热棚的效率相当高，但其第二定律效极低，比第一定律效率低一个量级。由于作为热发电系统热源的热空气的温度很低，这就导致了即使在理想的条件下系统的发电效率也较难大于1％     

Technical and economical system comparison of photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power systems depending on annual global irradiation

Concentrating solar thermal power and photovoltaics are two major technologies for converting sunlight to electricity. Variations of the annual solar irradiation depending on the site influence their annual efficiency, specific output and electricity generation cost. Detailed technical and economical analyses performed with computer simulations point out differences of solar thermal parabolic trough power plants, non-tracked and two-axis-tracked PV systems. Therefore, 61 sites in Europe and North Africa covering a global annual irradiation range from 923 to 2438 kW h/m² a have been examined. Simulation results are usable irradiation by the systems, specific annual system output and levelled electricity cost. Cost assumptions are made for today's cost and expected cost in 10 years considering different progress ratios. This will lead to a cost reduction by 50% for PV systems and by 40% for solar thermal power plants. The simulation results show where are optimal regions for installing solar thermal trough and tracked PV systems in comparison to non-tracked PV. For low irradiation values the annual output of solar thermal systems is much lower than of PV systems. On the other hand, for high irradiations solar thermal systems provide the best-cost solution even when considering higher cost reduction factors for PV in the next decade. Electricity generation cost much below 10 Eurocents per kW h for solar thermal systems and about 12 Eurocents/kW h for PV can be expected in 10 years in North Africa.     

太阳能热气流电站中涡轮机流动特性分析

对太阳能热气流电站中的涡轮机进行了设计和数值模拟.建立了涡轮机区域流体流动的物理数学模型,并对其进行数值模拟;研究了涡轮机的转速与压降对涡轮机的流量、输出功率和能量转换效率的影响.通过与相近实验模型的试验结果对比,证明了设计方案和数值模拟方法是有效的.