Masters Theses

Keywords and Phrases

Light trapping

Abstract

"In light of the continued rise in fossil fuel costs, alternative energy sources, such as solar technology, are increasingly important. Concentrating photovoltaic systems are promising for future efficient and cost effective competition with fossil fuels. A microlens array is employed to a CdTe/CdS semiconducting solar cell to increase efficiency via light trapping. Since the microlens array will cause a local increase in incident light intensity, it should cause a corresponding increase in efficiency. The solar cell is deposited layer by layer. The CdS layer is chemically deposited. The CdTe layer is deposited using a novel additive manufacture technique: laser melting of CdTe powder. A CdCl₂ thermal treatment is implemented following CdTe deposition to compensate for CdTe/CdS lattice mismatch. A microlens array mold is etched out of Foturan glass that has been treated with femtosecond laser exposure. PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) microlens arrays are cast from this Foturan glass mold to greatly decrease manufacture costs of the microlens array. The use of a glass mold of PDMS casting improves lifetime of mold as compared to conventional approaches. The efficiency without the microlens array is 2.19% and it is 2.26% with the microlens array. Reliability difficulties were observed in electrical characterization as well as a low overall efficiency. It is theorized that these difficulties were caused by the laser melting technique used to fabricate the CdTe layer"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Tsai, Hai-Lung
Xiao, Hai, Dr.

Committee Member(s)

Homan, Kelly

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s)

Missouri University of Science and Technology. Intelligent Systems Center

Research Center/Lab(s)

Intelligent Systems Center

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

2012

Pagination

viii, 33 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 31-32).

Rights

© 2012 Patrick Margavio, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Solar cellsPhotovoltaic cellsFemtosecond lasersCadmium tellurideCadmium sulfide

Thesis Number

T 10057

Print OCLC #

830005587

Electronic OCLC #

908852043

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