With the decline in the world's natural resources, the need for new and cheaper energy sources is evolving. One such source is the sun which generates heat and light which can be harnessed and used to our advantage. This reference book introduces the topic of photovoltaics in the form of flexible solar cells. There are explanations of the principles behind this technology, the engineering required to produce these products and the future possibilities offered by this technology. The chemistry and physics of the cells (both organic and inorganic) are clarified as well as production methods, with information how this can then be applied to the nanoscale as well. A complete guide to this new and exciting way of producing energy which will be invaluable to a variety of people from material scientists, chemists, electrical engineers, to management consultants and politicians.
A single-volume resource featuring state-of-the art reviews of key elements of the roll-to-roll manufacturing processing methodology Roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing is an important manufacturing technology platform used extensively for mass-producing a host of film-type products in several traditional industries such as printing, silver-halide photography, and paper. Over the last two decades, some of the methodologies and know-how of R2R manufacturing have been extended and adapted in many new technology areas, including microelectronics, display, photovoltaics, and microfluidics. This comprehensive book presents the state-of-the-art unit operations of the R2R manufacturing technology, providing a practical resource for scientists, engineers, and practitioners not familiar with the fundamentals of R2R technology. Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing: Process Elements and Recent Advances reviews new developments in areas such as flexible glass, display, and photovoltaics and covers a number of process innovations implemented recently to extend and improve the capabilities of traditional R2R lines. It covers such topics as: coating and solidification processes, in-line vacuum deposition, drying, web handling and winding, polymer film substrates, novel hybrid composite films, flexible solar cells and more. Additionally, this book: Examines key elements (unit operations) of the R2R technology, and discusses how these elements are utilized and integrated to achieve desired process efficiencies in a host of applications. Illustrates several established and novel application areas where R2R processing is utilized in current or future products. Discusses process design methodology and key advantages of R2R manufacturing technology over batch or sheet-to-sheet operations. Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing: Process Elements and Recent Advances is an ideal book for undergraduate and graduate students in various science and engineering disciplines, as well as for scientists, engineers, and technical and business leaders associated in any way with the development, commercialization, and manufacture of a variety of film products.
Solar cells are semiconductor devices that convert light photons into electricity in photovoltaic energy conversion and can help to overcome the global energy crisis. Solar cells have many applications including remote area power systems, earth-orbiting satellites, wristwatches, water pumping, photodetectors and remote radiotelephones. Solar cell technology is economically feasible for commercial-scale power generation. While commercial solar cells exhibit good performance and stability, still researchers are looking at many ways to improve the performance and cost of solar cells via modulating the fundamental properties of semiconductors. Solar cell technology is the key to a clean energy future. Solar cells directly harvest energy from the sun’s light radiation into electricity are in an ever-growing demand for future global energy production. Solar cell-based energy harvesting has attracted worldwide attention for their notable features, such as cheap renewable technology, scalable, lightweight, flexibility, versatility, no greenhouse gas emission, environment, and economy friendly and operational costs are quite low compared to other forms of power generation. Thus, solar cell technology is at the forefront of renewable energy technologies which are used in telecommunications, power plants, small devices to satellites. Aiming at large-scale implementation can be manipulated by various types used in solar cell design and exploration of new materials towards improving performance and reducing cost. Therefore, in-depth knowledge about solar cell design is fundamental for those who wish to apply this knowledge and understanding in industries and academics. This book provides a comprehensive overview on solar cells and explores the history to evolution and present scenarios of solar cell design, classification, properties, various semiconductor materials, thin films, wafer-scale, transparent solar cells, and so on. It also includes solar cells’ characterization analytical tools, theoretical modeling, practices to enhance conversion efficiencies, applications and patents.
Thin-film solar cells are either emerging or about to emerge from the research laboratory to become commercially available devices finding practical various applications. Currently no textbook outlining the basic theoretical background, methods of fabrication and applications currently exist. Thus, this book aims to present for the first time an in-depth overview of this topic covering a broad range of thin-film solar cell technologies including both organic and inorganic materials, presented in a systematic fashion, by the scientific leaders in the respective domains. It covers a broad range of related topics, from physical principles to design, fabrication, characterization, and applications of novel photovoltaic devices.
Provides the state-of-the-art on wearable technology for smart clothing The book gives a coherent overview of recent development on flexible electronics for smart clothing with emphasis on wearability and durability of the materials and devices. It offers detailed information on the basic functional components of the flexible and wearable electronics including sensing, systems-on-a-chip, interacting, and energy, as well as the integrating and connecting of electronics into textile form. It also provides insights into the compatibility and integration of functional materials, electronics, and the clothing technology. Flexible and Wearable Electronics for Smart Clothing offers comprehensive coverage of the technology in four parts. The first part discusses wearable organic nano-sensors, stimuli-responsive electronic skins, and flexible thermoelectrics and thermoelectric textiles. The next part examines textile triboelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting, flexible and wearable solar cells and supercapacitors, and flexible and wearable lithium-ion batteries. Thermal and humid management for next-generation textiles, functionalization of fiber materials for washable smart wearable textiles, and flexible microfluidics for wearable electronics are covered in the next section. The last part introduces readers to piezoelectric materials and devices based flexible bio-integrated electronics, printed electronics for smart clothes, and the materials and processes for stretchable and wearable e-textile devices. -Presents the most recent developments in wearable technology such as wearable nanosensors, logic circuit, artificial intelligence, energy harvesting, and wireless communication -Covers the flexible and wearable electronics as essential functional components for smart clothing from sensing, systems-on-a-chip, interacting, energy to the integrating and connecting of electronics -Of high interest to a large and interdisciplinary target group, including materials scientists, textile chemists, and electronic engineers in academia and industry Flexible and Wearable Electronics for Smart Clothing will appeal to materials scientists, textile industry professionals, textile engineers, electronics engineers, and sensor developers.
The most comprehensive, authoritative and widely cited reference on photovoltaic solar energy Fully revised and updated, the Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Second Edition incorporates the substantial technological advances and research developments in photovoltaics since its previous release. All topics relating to the photovoltaic (PV) industry are discussed with contributions by distinguished international experts in the field. Significant new coverage includes: three completely new chapters and six chapters with new authors device structures, processing, and manufacturing options for the three major thin film PV technologies high performance approaches for multijunction, concentrator, and space applications new types of organic polymer and dye-sensitized solar cells economic analysis of various policy options to stimulate PV growth including effect of public and private investment Detailed treatment covers: scientific basis of the photovoltaic effect and solar cell operation the production of solar silicon and of silicon-based solar cells and modules how choice of semiconductor materials and their production influence costs and performance making measurements on solar cells and modules and how to relate results under standardised test conditions to real outdoor performance photovoltaic system installation and operation of components such as inverters and batteries. architectural applications of building-integrated PV Each chapter is structured to be partially accessible to beginners while providing detailed information of the physics and technology for experts. Encompassing a review of past work and the fundamentals in solar electric science, this is a leading reference and invaluable resource for all practitioners, consultants, researchers and students in the PV industry.
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.This book presents results relevant in the manufacturing research field, that are mainly aimed at closing the gap between the academic investigation and the industrial application, in collaboration with manufacturing companies. Several hardware and software prototypes represent the key outcome of the scientific contributions that can be grouped into five main areas, representing different perspectives of the factory domain:1) Evolutionary and reconfigurable factories to cope with dynamic production contexts characterized by evolving demand and technologies, products and processes.2) Factories for sustainable production, asking for energy efficiency, low environmental impact products and processes, new de-production logics, sustainable logistics.3) Factories for the People who need new kinds of interactions between production processes, machines, and human beings to offer a more comfortable and stimulating working environment.4) Factories for customized products that will be more and more tailored to the final user’s needs and sold at cost-effective prices.5) High performance factories to yield the due production while minimizing the inefficiencies caused by failures, management problems, maintenance.This books is primarily targeted to academic researchers and industrial practitioners in the manufacturing domain.
Comprehensively covering inorganic flexible optoelectronics and their applications This highly application-oriented book provides an overview of the vibrant research field of inorganic flexible optoelectronics ? from materials to applications ? covering bulk materials as well as nanowires, thin films, nanomembranes for application in light emitting diodes, photodetectors, phototransistors, and solar cells. Edited and written by world-leading experts in the field, Inorganic Flexible Optoelectronics: Materials and Applications begins by covering flexible inorganic light emitting diodes enabled by new materials and designs, and provides examples of their use in neuroscience research. It then looks at flexible light-emitting diodes based on inorganic semiconductor nanostructures ? from thin films to nanowires. Next, the book examines flexible photodetectors with nanomembranes and nanowires; 2-D material based photodetectors on flexible substrates; and IV group materials based solar cells and their flexible photovoltaic technologies. Following that, it presents readers with a section on thin-film III-V single junction and multijunction solar cells and demonstrates their integration onto heterogeneous substrates. Finally, the book finishes with in-depth coverage of novel materials based flexible solar cells. -A must-have book that provides an unprecedented overview of the state of the art in flexible optoelectronics -Supplies in-depth information for new and already active researchers in the field of optoelectronics -Lays down the undiluted knowledge on inorganic flexible optoelectronics ? from materials to devices -Focuses on materials and devices for high-performance applications such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and photodetectors Inorganic Flexible Optoelectronics: Materials and Applications appeals to materials scientists, electronics engineers, electrical engineers, inorganic chemists, and solid state physicists.
Organic solar cells have emerged as new promising photovoltaic devices due to their potential applications in large area, printable and flexible solar panels. Organic Solar Cells: Materials and Device Physics offers an updated review on the topics covering the synthesis, properties and applications of new materials for various critical roles in devices from electrodes, interface and carrier transport materials, to the active layer composed of donors and acceptors. Addressing the important device physics issues of carrier and exciton dynamics and interface stability and novel light trapping structures, the potential for hybrid organic solar cells to provide high efficiency solar cells is examined and discussed in detail. Specific chapters covers key areas including: Latest research and designs for highly effective polymer donors/acceptors and interface materials Synthesis and application of highly transparent and conductive graphene Exciton and charge dynamics for in-depth understanding of the mechanism underlying organic solar cells. New potentials and emerging functionalities of plasmonic effects in OSCs Interface Degradation Mechanisms in organic photovoltaics improving the entire device lifetime Device architecture and operation mechanism of organic/ inorganic hybrid solar cells for next generation of high performance photovoltaics This reference can be practically and theoretically applied by senior undergraduates, postgraduates, engineers, scientists, researchers, and project managers with some fundamental knowledge in organic and inorganic semiconductor materials or devices.
Photovoltaic technology has now developed to the extent that it is close to fulfilling the vision of a "solar-energy world," as devices based on this technology are becoming efficient, low-cost and durable. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of thin-film silicon, a prevalent PV material, in terms of its semiconductor nature, starting out with the physical properties, but concentrating on device applications. A special emphasis is given to amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon as photovoltaic materials, along with a model that allows these systems to be physically described in the simplest manner possible, thus allowing the student or scientist/engineer entering the field of thin-film electronics to master a few basic concepts that are distinct from those in the field of conventional semiconductors. The main part of the book deals with solar cells and modules by illustrating the basic functioning of these devices, along with their limitations, design optimization, testing and fabrication methods. Among the manufacturing processes discussed are plasma-assisted and hot-wire deposition, sputtering, and structuring techniques.
