Solar Cells and their Applications, Second Edition, Second Edition

623 Pages·2010·37.223 MB·English

by  Kai Chang(eds.)

SOLAR CELLS AND
THEIR APPLICATIONS
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WILEY SERIES IN MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL ENGINEERING
KAI CHANG, Editor
Texas A & M University
A complete list of the titles in this series appears at the end of this volume.
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SOLAR CELLS AND
THEIR APPLICATIONS
Second Edition
Edited by
LEWIS FRAAS
LARRY PARTAIN
A JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC., PUBLICATION
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Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Solar cells and their applications / [edited by] Lewis Fraas, Larry Partain.—2nd ed.
p. cm.—(Wiley series in microwave and optical engineering)
ISBN 978-0-470-44633-1 (cloth)
1. Solar cells. I. Partain, L. D. II. Fraas, Lewis M.
TK2960.S652 2010
621.31'244—dc22
2010000196
Printed in Singapore
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
PART I INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR CELLS . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 Solar Cells: A Brief History and Introduction . . 3
Lewis Fraas and Larry Partain
Chapter 2 Solar Cell Electricity Market History, Public
Policy, Projected Future, and Estimated Costs. . 17
Larry Partain and Lewis Fraas
Chapter 3 Solar Cells, Single-Crystal Semiconductors, and
High Effi ciency . . . . . . . . . . 43
Lewis Fraas
Chapter 4 Solar Cell Device Physics. . . . . . . . 67
Larry Partain
PART II TERRESTRIAL SOLAR CELL ELECTRICITY . . 111
Chapter 5 Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules . . 113
Leonid Rubin
Chapter 6 Thin-Film Solar Cells and Modules. . . . . 137
Robert Birkmire
Chapter 7 Terrestrial Module Fabrication and
Assembly Technologies . . . . . . . . 159
Christopher Bunner
Chapter 8 Chinese Solar Cell Status. . . . . . . . 171
Wang Sicheng
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vi CONTENTS
Chapter 9 Tracking the Sun for More Kilowatt Hour and
Lower-Cost Solar Electricity. . . . . . . 207
Ron Corio, Michael Reed, and Lewis Fraas
Chapter 10 Solar Cell Systems: Defi nition, Performance,
and Reliability. . . . . . . . . . . 219
Jason Strauch, Larry Moore, and Elmer Collins
Chapter 11 Levelized Cost of Energy for Utility-Scale
Photovoltaics . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Matthew Campbell
PART III TERRESTRIAL CONCENTRATOR SOLAR
CELL SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Chapter 12 Low-Concentration Crystalline Silicon Systems. . 273
Lewis Fraas
Chapter 13 High-Concentration, III–V Multijunction
Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Geoffrey Kinsey
Chapter 14 High-Concentration Fresnel Lens Assemblies
and Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Gerhard Peharz and Andreas Bett
Chapter 15 High-Concentration Cassegrainian Solar Cell
Modules and Arrays . . . . . . . . . 337
Michael Ludowise and Lewis Fraas
Chapter 16 Concentrator Solar Cell Installations at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas. . . . . . 361
Suresh Sadineni and Robert Boehm
Chapter 17 Concentrator Photovoltaic Field Installations . . 377
Francisca Rubio, María Martínez, and
Pedro Banda
PART IV SOLAR CELLS IN SPACE . . . . . . . . 395
Chapter 18 Space Solar Cells and Applications . . . . . 397
Sheila Bailey and Ryne Raffaelle
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CONTENTS vii
PART V OTHER ASPECTS AND CONSIDERATIONS . . . 425
Chapter 19 Solar Resource for Space and
Terrestrial Applications . . . . . . . . 427
Christian A. Gueymard and Daryl Myers
Chapter 20 Solar Energy Costs: The Solar Advisor Model . . 463
Paul Gilman, Nathan Blair, and Christopher Cameron
Chapter 21 Challenges of Large-Scale Solar Cell
Electricity Production . . . . . . . . 483
David Faiman
PART VI THIN FILMS AND X-RAY IMAGER
TECHNOLOGIES . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Chapter 22 Market Overview of Flat Panel Detectors for
X-Ray Imaging . . . . . . . . . . 499
Carl LaCasce, Larry Partain, and Chuck Blouir
Chapter 23 Amorphous Silicon Transistors
and Photodiodes . . . . . . . . . . 511
Robert Street
Chapter 24 Amorphous Silicon Digital X-Ray Imaging. . . 533
Richard Colbeth
Chapter 25 Photoconductor Digital X-Ray Imaging. . . . 559
George Zentai
PART VII SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Chapter 26 Summary, Conclusions, and
Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . 583
Lewis Fraas and Larry Partain
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
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Preface
This Second Edition is intended to be a comprehensive survey, review, and analysis
of all the major factors related to the continuing technical development of solar
cell electricity and its market development into a major worldwide source of
electric power in response to powerful political and economic infl uences. It is
divided into six major sections plus a Summary section including conclusions and
recommendations.
In contrast to the First Edition, Part I contains three initial chapters written
so that nonspecialists and the more general readers and investors and policy makers
can follow their contents without the need for specialized training or understanding.
The goal is to allow a broad spectrum of readers to at least comprehend the market
history, the infl uence of public policy, the likely costs of solar cell - generated elec-
tricity, and the special role that near - perfect, single - crystal semiconductor fabrica-
tion materials can have on overall performance. Chapter 4 in this part, on Solar
Cell Device Physics (like the First Edition), is again aimed at advanced undergradu-
ate and graduate college courses and other technical professionals involved in
teaching, research, and commercial development. It not only covers the traditional
abrupt p/n junction confi guration of the First Edition but also expands into the very
non - abrupt p - i - n geometries that characterize a whole new class of high - perfor-
mance solar cells including interdigitated back - contact cells, point - contact cells,
and heterojunction - with - intrisinsic - thin - layer (HIT) cells. It further addresses the
special resistive restrictions that can limit p - i - n - type device performance as well
as proposed paths to performance levels well beyond 50% effi ciency levels.
However, to maintain a reasonable length, this physics chapter does use the First
Edition as a reference.
Part II addresses the current state of terrestrial solar cell electricity technology
and development programs. This includes the dominant crystalline silicon abrupt
p/n junction devices and their large - scale fabrication and the emerging thin - fi lm
amorphous and polycrystalline semiconductor cells and modules. The amazing
recent growth of the Chinese terrestrial solar cell program is presented in some
detail. The potential advantages of tracking the sun are explored along with a
detailed description of 3 years of fi eld experience with fi xed - axis crystalline silicon
modules of 12% effi ciency (under standard test conditions) in the Arizona desert.
The emerging utility - scale installations are summarized along with their important
cost - determining characteristics.
Part III attempts to present a comprehensive overview of the terrestrial con-
centrator approach to solar cell electricity production and its special advantages
ix
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x PREFACE
and challenges. This includes both low and high sunlight concentration levels with
various system approaches as well as early results of small fi eld tests at the
University of Nevada and of substantial utility - scale fi eld tests of multiple and
varied concentrator systems in Spain.
Part IV takes a broad look at space systems and all of the unique approaches,
needs, accomplishments, plans, and future needs for space.
Part V contains a chapter giving precise descriptions of the solar resource
both terrestrially and in space. It also contains a chapter describing a sophisticated
and detailed cost and performance model from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL). This Solar Advisor Model is reviewed and summarized.
Finally, the special challenges of large - scale solar electricity production are
explored.
Part VI is a special four - chapter addition of the Second Edition that discusses
how thin - fi lm solar cells can be transformed into X - ray imaging devices when
devices are reduced to submillimeter sizes and are aligned in columns and rows
that are covered by a scintillator fi lm that converts X - ray photons into visible light
photons. If these are then attached to an array of the thin - fi lm transistor switches,
a fl at - plate X - ray imager is produced. The market analysis of this whole X - ray
imager fi eld shows that its current market size of $2 billion per year should
continuously evolve into a $15 billion per year wholesale market over the
next 10 years or so as these devices continually improve in performance and drop
in price.
The fi nal chapter summarizes the amazing growth of this solar cell electricity
technology and market over the 15 years since the publication of the First Edition.
It provides recommendations for how major countries and unions can play major
roles from both technology and public policy perspectives and how continuing cost
reduction and improved performance demands should be met under both near - and
medium - term time frames.
In summary, this book describes today ’ s baseline planar solar cell power
systems as well as innovations in high - effi ciency solar cells and concentrated
sunlight systems that have occurred in the last 15 years, which now promise lower
cost electricity competitive with other mainstream electric power sources.
In addition to describing these technical breakthroughs in clear and simple
terms, this book also describes the path from research breakthrough to high - volume
production, emphasizing the cooperation required between government and private
enterprise. Given this cooperation, solar cells can be a major contributor to the
electric power production mix within the next 10 years.
This book has been written for a large audience, not just a technical audience.
It is hoped that any educated reader will fi nd this book interesting, especially any
reader who seeks to understand how the world ’ s energy supply problems can be
increasingly addressed by exploiting direct solar energy resources available within
a country ’ s borders. It further describes how most countries can start moving away
from increasingly intense competition for decreasing depletable energy supplies
and how they can continue moving toward a long - term, sustainable solution with
inherently positive attributes.
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PREFACE xi
The thesis of this book is that solar energy can be cost competitive with other
forms of electric power production and that the technical innovations required for
this have already been made. Incentives for investment are needed to bring these
innovations into high - volume production. It is hoped that this book will help
educate the public, possible investors, as well as policy makers worldwide about
the potential for a bright sunny energy future.
Lewis Fraas
Issaquah, WA
Larry Partain
Mountain View, CA
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