Related papers: Image analysis of polycrystalline solar cells and …
Solar energy is rapidly becoming a robust renewable energy source to conventional finite resources such as fossil fuels. It is harvested using interconnected photovoltaic panels, typically built with crystalline silicon cells, i.e.…
Intergranular fracture in polycrystals is often simulated by finite elements coupled to a cohesive-zone model for the interfaces, requiring cohesive laws for grain boundaries as a function of their geometry. We discuss three challenges in…
A multi-physics and multi-scale computational approach is proposed in the present work to study the evolution of microcracking in polycrystalline Silicon (Si) solar cells composing photovoltaic (PV) modules. Coupling between the elastic and…
Solar cells are semiconductor devices that generate electricity through charge generation upon illumination. For optimal device efficiency, the photo-generated carriers must reach the electrical contact layers before they recombine. A deep…
Are the cohesive laws of interfaces sufficient for modelling fracture in polycrystals using the cohesive zone model? We examine this question by comparing a fully atomistic simulation of a silicon polycrystal to a finite element simulation…
Next-generation ground-based solar observations require good image quality metrics for post-facto processing techniques. Based on the assumption that texture features in solar images are multi-fractal which can be extracted by a trained…
The scanning mid-IR-laser microscopy was previously demonstrated as an effective tool for characterization of different semiconductor crystals. Now the technique has been successfully applied for the investigation of CZ SixGe1-x -- a…
Intermittent magnetohydrodynamical turbulence is most likely at work in the magnetized solar atmosphere. As a result, an array of scaling and multi-scaling image-processing techniques can be used to measure the expected self-organization of…
We present a combined phase field and cohesive zone formulation for hydrogen embrittlement that resolves the polycrystalline microstructure of metals. Unlike previous studies, our deformation-diffusion-fracture modelling framework accounts…
Atomic diffusion affects the properties of various engineering materials, which predominantly occur in the polycrystalline state. A rigorous description of polycrystalline diffusion must therefore account for crystallographic defects,…
Thin film polycrystalline photovoltaics are a mature, commercially-relevant technology. However, basic questions persist about the role of grain boundaries in the performance of these materials, and the extent to which these defects may…
Since the photoconversion efficiency $\eta$ of the silicon-based solar cells (SCs) under laboratory conditions is approaching the theoretical fundamental limit, further improvement of their performance requires theoretical modeling and/or…
A design tool was formulated for optimizing the efficiency of inorganic, thin-film, photovoltaic solar cells. The solar cell can have multiple semiconductor layers in addition to antireflection coatings, passivation layers, and buffer…
A brief review of modeling and simulation methods for a study of polymers at interfaces is provided. When studying truly multiscale problems as provided by realistic polymer systems, coarse graining is practically unavoidable. In this…
We propose a new concept for the design of high-efficiency photocells based on ultra-thin (submicron) semiconductor films of controlled thickness. Using a microscopic model of a thin dielectric layer interacting with incident…
We study the complexity of the supergranular network through fractal dimension by using Ca II K digitized data archive obtained from Kodaikanal solar observatory. The data consists of 326 visually selected supergranular cells spread across…
The science of fractography revolves around the correlation between topographic characteristics of the fracture surface and the mechanisms and external conditions leading to their creation. While being a topic of investigation for…
We demonstrate a non-destructive approach to provide structural properties on the grain level for the absorber layer of kesterite solar cells. Kesterite solar cells are notoriously difficult to characterize structurally due to the…
In the last few years there is an unprecedented progress in the increase of the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells. Evidently, further advances of the efficiency of these devices will depend on the constraints imposed by…
The scanning mid-IR-laser microscopy was previously demonstrated as an effective tool for characterization of different semiconductor crystals. Now the technique has been successfully applied for the investigation of CZ Si$_x$Ge$_{1-x}$---a…