High-power, low-weight, flexible thin film photovoltaics for space application

Lead Research Organisation: University of Surrey
Department Name: Mechanical Medical and Aerospace Eng

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description 1. CdTe based solar cells deposited by MOCVD onto 100 micron thick flexible glass with an efficiency of 15.3 %. Depositing the solar cell directly onto the flexible cover glass is novel - improving the specific power of the solar cell, through saving weight.
2. Using sophisticated analytical techniques; transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the multilayer structure, composition and individual layer thicknesses have been determined and correspond well to those expected from the growth conditions.
3. TEM data has shown evidence of porosity in the ZnO buffer layer. This is attributed to the high roughness of the aluminium doped zinc oxide transparent conductive layer (due to its columnar growth) combined with the unusual isotropic growth mode of the ZnO nanograins. This has resulted in the ZnO layer now being grown at a different temperature in an attempt to reduce the porosity and increase solar cell efficiency.
4. The adhesive strength of the solar cell to the flexible glass is excellent, with an adhesive strength > 16 MPa.
5. These solar cells have now been tested on board a small satellite for 3 years, making 17,000 orbits around the earth, experiencing temperatures of between -4 and +51 °C. There is no indication of delamination of the multilayer solar cell from the glass substrate. Over this period, the efficiency of the solar cell dropped only a small amount, from 13 % to 11 %. Data recorded from the solar cell indicates that this efficiency drop was caused by gold from the back contact of the solar cell diffusing into the CdTe layer over time. A new back-contact architecture could solve this problem.
6. With the current world record conversion efficiency for thin film CdTe being 22.1 % AM1.5 the ultimate ambition of a space ready CdTe solar cell is; a radiation and thermally stable device structure with 20% AM0 efficiency, a specific power of > 1.5 kW/kg and a significantly lower production cost to current multi-junction technology.
7. Hence, this project has shown that the CdTe solar cell technology on 100 micron thick glass is a realistic lower cost alternative to the current multi-junction technology used on satellites.
Exploitation Route 1. Other research workers/companies could also apply the novel approach of depositing the solar cell directly onto the cover glass for space applications.
2. Scientific evidence for the roughness of the aluminium doped zinc oxide layer and the ZnO buffer layer morphology and the resulting porosity observed is of interest to the general thin film photovoltaic community.
3. The excellent adhesion of the solar cell to the flexible cover glass has been achieved through specific cleaning process which could also be used by other researchers/companies using similar plasma based deposition processes.
Sectors Electronics

Energy

Manufacturing

including Industrial Biotechology

Other

 
Description This project has now finished. The results were very successful. 3 Journal Publications and 3 conference publications have been made from this work. Numerous presentations have been given at international conferences in the fields of photovoltaics, thin films and satellite development. The solar cells from this project have been mounted on the AlSat Nano 3 Unit Cubesat mission which was launched in September 26th 2016 and is now reporting the first ever thin film solar cell on cover glass data which can be accessed by the public. The story of this satellite launch and payload is given in the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5AFwxnNxAU
First Year Of Impact 2015
Sector Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Electronics,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology
Impact Types Societal

Economic

 
Title Ink Jet printer (PixPro LP50) 
Description The PixPro LP50 was commissioned and modified on the Sinter Free research project to produce highly conducting metal contacts for thin film photovoltaic (PV) cells. The information learnt on the research project is now being applied to innovative designs of monolithic modules and in particular thin film PV modules on ultra-thin glass (UTG). The use of UTG is extremely challenging when fabricating monolithic modules that could be the basis for practical ultra-light-weight PV arrays. The information gained on the Sinter-free inkjet project has enabled a new avenue of research to minimize strain that will be included in a new research proposal to EPSRC on fundamental aspects of strain in functional devices on UTG. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Too early to assess impact but ongoing discussions with UTG glass manufacturers and research collaborators at University of Surrey on the strain proposal. 
URL http://www.cser.org.uk
 
Description Business and technology article 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Wales Business Insider Magazine, Page: 36-37, June/July 2014 "Green on the Inside" (Circulation: 7,000 Frequency: Monthly)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Conference Invited presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact EMRS, 15-18th sept, 2015, Warsaw, "Ultra-thin glass: the ideal superstrate for thin film PV?"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description European Conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact European Conference on Surface and Interface Analysis (ECASIA'15), Granada, Spain, Sept 27-31, 2015. "Characterisation of a Multilayer CdTe based Solar Cell for Space Applications"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description European Photovoltaic Conference, Netherlands, presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 29th EUPVSEC, 22 - 26 September, 2014, poster presented, paper into proceedings "cadmium telluride thin film photovoltaics for space application".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description European Photovoltaic conference, Germany, presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact EU-PVSEC28, 30th Sept- 04th Oct, 2013, Conference paper and poster presentation "High-power, Low-weight, Flexible CdTe Thin Film Photovoltaics For Space Application".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description II/VI Semiconductor Materials Workshop, Chicago, Invited talk 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact II/VI Workshop 01-03rd Oct, 2013, Chicago, Invited talk "Cadmium Telluride Solar Cells On Ultra-Thin Glass For Space Applications".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description International Royal Society conference, Invited Talk (South Africa) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact UK South Africa Royal Society Conference, "Thin film PV on ultrathin glass".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description International Solar conference, Invited Talk (Turkey) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Solar TR3 Conference, April 27-29th, 2015, Ankara, Turkey "Thin Film PV on Ultra-thin Glass".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description International Thin Film Conference, Dubrovnik, presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact ICTF'16, Dubrovnik, Croatia 13-16 October, 2014 "Characterisation Of MOCVD Grown CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description National Photovoltaic conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact PVSAT11, 15-17th April 2015, "Preparation of a Thin Film CdTe Solar Cell for Flight Testing on a Satellite".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Newspaper article 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Co-authored article for Daily Post, March 2015 "Glyndwr University chosen to lead space project"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description PVSAT conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact PV-SAT10 Oral presentation and conference paper (Lightweight and Low Cost Thin Film Photovoltaics for Large Area Extra-terrestrial Applications).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Publicity of research results, Wales 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Welsh Optoelectronics Forum News Letter, Winter 2015 "Solar cells selected for flight testing"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Radio broadcast on the EPSRC project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Science Café, BBC Radio Wales, 24 March 2015 "Interview in the CSER lab about the Space PV project"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Radio interview 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Radio Wales interview - Science Café 16th May, 2013 "Interview in the CSER lab about the Space PV project"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description Research project publicity 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Journal for Science Engineering and Technology Advances, Wales, Issue 72, Summer 2014, pages 14-15 "New Solar Cell Technology Taking off in North Wales"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description University invited lecture 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact IOM3, invited lecture, Cambridge, 12th May, "Prospects for thin film PV solar energy for a world dominated by crystalline silicon".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Vacuum Expo poster (Coventry) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Vacuum symposium (Vacuum Expo), 2014, Coventry, poster presentation
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Vacuum Symposium UK, Coventry presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Vacuum Symposium UK, 15 & 16 October 2014, "Thin Film CdTe Photovoltaics on Ultra-thin Space Qualified Cover Glass".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Vacuum Symposium presentation, Coventry 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Vacuum Symposium UK, 15 & 16 October 2014 "Characterization Of A CdTe Thin Film Solar Cell For Space Application".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Welsh Optoelectronics Forum newsletter - project announcement 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Welsh Optoelectronics Forum EPSRC research grant announcement "High-Power, low-weight flexible thin film photovoltaics for space application", spring 2013
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description Workshop Presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact CDT-TCO workshop, 11th November 2015, the University of Liverpool, invited talk "TCO's and space applications" Invited Talk
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Workshop presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Bright Lights and Engineering, Celebrating the International Year of Light and the Welsh Festival of Innovation, Tuesday 16th June, 2015, OpTIC "Solar Applications in Space".
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015