Efficiently-cooled plasmonic amorphous silicon solar cells integrated with a nano-coated heat-pipe plate

Abstract

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are emerging as a major alternative energy source. The cost of PV electricity depends on the efficiency of conversion of light to electricity. Despite of steady growth in the efficiency for several decades, little has been achieved to reduce the impact of real-world operating temperatures on this efficiency. Here we demonstrate a highly efficient cooling solution to the recently emerging high performance plasmonic solar cell technology by integrating an advanced nano-coated heat-pipe plate. This thermal cooling technology, efficient for both summer and winter time, demonstrates the heat transportation capability up to ten times higher than those of the metal plate and the conventional wickless heat-pipe plates. The reduction in temperature rise of the plasmonic solar cells operating under one sun condition can be as high as 46%, leading to an approximate 56% recovery in efficiency, which dramatically increases the energy yield of the plasmonic solar cells. This newly-developed, thermally-managed plasmonic solar cell device significantly extends the application scope of PV for highly efficient solar energy conversion.

An Experimental Investigation of a Novel Low-Cost Photovoltaic Panel Active Cooling System

“…Radiative cooling has been investigated by Safi and Munday [25] while, e.g., Moharram et al [26], Nižetić et al [27], and Zsiborács et al [28] have studied water-sprayed cooling techniques. Evaporative cooling, forced air flow, and natural vaporization have been investigated by, e.g., Alami [29], Rahimi et al [30], and Ebrahimi et al [31] while cooling methods employing heat pipes or sprinkling techniques have been examined by Zhang et al [32] and Bai et al [33], respectively.…”

Losses in plasmonics: from mitigating energy dissipation to embracing loss-enabled functionalities

“…11c shows an example of a passive cooling system designed for high-performance plasmonic chips that makes use of enhanced heat conduction and natural convection [174]. Modeling predicts that multi-layered thermal interfaces of nano-and micrometer thickness, combined with simple convective cooling systems, can help to reduce the temperature of the plasmonic chip by several hundred degrees [173]. Finally, passive radiative cooling can be a powerful mechanism for temperature reduction [175,176], especially in the situations where other heat removal channels are suppressed.…”

Nature-inspired spherical silicon solar cell for three-dimensional light harvesting, improved dust and thermal management

“…To achieve these purposes, multiple pioneering techniques have been developed including the bifacial structure of silicon solar cells, which are capable of harvesting the sunlight reflected by the background, and therefore promise an increase in power output with respect to traditional solar cells by up to ∼35%. [19][20][21] Another creative method is based on the fabrication of microspherical silicon solar cells to collect direct and diffuse beams with better efficiency; [22,23] however, the microspheres are integrated on a flat substrate and, therefore, cannot make use of the background reflected beams. Other techniques focused on solving the heat generation/dissipation and dust accumulation challenges using unique solar cell stacks and encapsulation materials.…”