As novel absorber materials are developed and screened for their photovoltaic (PV) properties, the challenge remains to reproducibly test promising candidates for high-performing PV devices. Many early-stage devices are prone to device shunting due to pinholes in the absorber layer, producing "false-negative" results. Here, we demonstrate a device engineering solution toward a robust device arc...

Cu-In-Ga electrodeposition on Mo substrate is carried out in acidic aqueous media. Subsequent selenization leads to Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber for thin film solar cells. First, conditions to achieve onestep Cu-In-Ga electrodeposition are analysed. Then, Cu-In and CuGa systems are studied. Cu-In electrodeposition is realized under diffusion-control conditions. For Cu-Ga system, first Cu(II) diffusion...

In this paper the influence of non-acoustic properties on the sound absorption coefficient of polyurethane foams as a porous medium is investigated. Biot’s equations with transfer matrix method, as the solution approach are employed to evaluate the sound absorption coefficient of selected polyurethane foams. The major issue is the dependency of non-acoustic properties on each other which makes ...

Organic-inorganic perovskites have shown promise as high-performance absorbers in solar cells, first as a coating on a mesoporous metal oxide scaffold and more recently as a solid layer in planar heterojunction architectures. Here, we report transient absorption and photoluminescence-quenching measurements to determine the electron-hole diffusion lengths, diffusion constants, and lifetimes in m...

This work reports plasmon enhanced photoacoustic generation by using a three dimensional plasmonic absorber. The 3D plasmonic absorber comprises a thin polymer film on glass nanopillar arrays with nanogap-rich silver nanoislands. The 3D plasmonic absorber clearly shows 24.6 times higher enhancement of photoacoustic signals at an excitation wavelength of 630 nm than a simple polymeric absorber. ...

Thermodynamic, achievable, and realistic efficiency limits of solar-driven electrochemical conversion of water and carbon dioxide to fuels are investigated as functions of light-absorber composition and configuration, and catalyst composition. The maximum thermodynamic efficiency at 1-sun illumination for adiabatic electrochemical synthesis of various solar fuels is in the range of 32-42%. Sing...

Hole transport material (HTM) plays an important role in the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Spiro-MeOTAD, the commonly used HTM, is costly and can be easily degraded by heat and moisture, thus offering hindrance to commercialize PSCs. There is dire need to find an alternate inorganic and stable HTM to exploit PSCs with their maximum capability. In this paper, a compr...

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), with the support of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has investigated the thermal performance of solar absorbers which are an integral yet indistinguishable part of a building’s roof. The first roof-integrated solar absorber (RISA) system was retrofitted into FSEC’S Flexible Roof Facility in Cocoa, Florida in September 1998. This “proof-of...

This paper presents an analysis of the performance of a pancake absorber with a helical heal exchanger for use with point focus solar concentrating collectors. Th e principal difference between this type of absorber and most other concentrating solar collector absorbers is that the intensity of concentrated radiation monotonically increases from the inlet to the outlet of the heat exchanger tub...

Micro-perforated absorber is a newly developed sound absorber, and it has a number of attractive features: • Unlike conventional perforated absorbers, micro-perforated absorber can be made from transparent materials like plastic glass. • Unlike commonly used fibrous absorptive materials, micro-perforated absorber is fibrous-free and thus, there is no health concern. • Micro-perforated membranes...