Exploring the development of nanocomposite encapsulation solutions for enhancing the efficiency of PV systems using optical modelling

Combined Experimental and Modeling Analysis for the Development of Optical Materials Suitable to Enhance the Implementation of Plasmonic-Enhanced Luminescent Down-Shifting Solutions on Existing Silicon-Based Photovoltaic Devices

“…Consequently, the extent to which each one of these contributions imparts the electrical conversion efficiency of the PV architecture has been typically overlooked in the pursuit of examining their combined influence. 6,7 However, by decoupling the various optical interactions and investigating their individual influence on the optical behavior and corresponding conversion performance of PV devices, the premises to further optimize any collaborative and complementary interactions that may arise among the individual elements (PV structure, encapsulant, luminophore, MNPs) can be offered. 7 Various modeling approaches allowing the influence of the PLDS layer optical properties on the electrical characteristics of a pristine PV have been developed over the years to explore the interactions that can occur within these complex optical structures.…”

“…6,7 However, by decoupling the various optical interactions and investigating their individual influence on the optical behavior and corresponding conversion performance of PV devices, the premises to further optimize any collaborative and complementary interactions that may arise among the individual elements (PV structure, encapsulant, luminophore, MNPs) can be offered. 7 Various modeling approaches allowing the influence of the PLDS layer optical properties on the electrical characteristics of a pristine PV have been developed over the years to explore the interactions that can occur within these complex optical structures. 7,26−28 These approaches are using either wave-based optical relationships or more probabilistic photon-based methods to allow them to calculate the fundamental properties and the performances of the modeled optical system.…”

“…26−29 The PLDS approaches, in conjunction with the capability of antireflective coatings (ARCs) to suppress the optical reflection losses arising from the front surface of a device and/or act as wavelength-selective highly reflective surfaces, offer further means of alleviating the additional losses introduced through the PLDS layer. 7,30,31 However, the presence and the functionality of the PLDS devices relies upon the existence of a series of synergies between the luminophore and the antireflective coatings. Thus, the optical properties produced by the complex configuration of encapsulating frameworks and ARCs, in general, can help or hamper the benefit of having the luminophore and the MNPs embedded in the host polymer matrix.…”

“…The material limitations can be further compounded by the fact that most encapsulating materials employed in LDS applications exhibit some degree of susceptibility to photoirradiation and/or absorb irradiation from within the spectral range targeted by the LDS species. 3,7,15 Moreover, the low refractive index (n = 1.2−1.6) of the encapsulating materials typically used until now in manufacturing the LDS devices leads to additional reflection losses, which are occurring at the air−PLDS and PLDS−PV interfaces. 3,15 These supplementary reflection losses are also introduced by the mismatch between the antireflection coating (e.g., the textured surface or a panoply of thin films aiming to maximize the solar energy collector abilities) formerly integrated into PV architectures and the PLDS layer added.…”

“…32,33 These loss mechanisms does not take into account the control offered over the nanomaterials (e.g., metal nanoparticle) utilized in PLDS devices, which could be used to improve the optical characteristics of the photoluminescent material. 7,21 The incorporation into the PLDS architecture of additional optical structures (e.g., simple ARCs as in Figure 1a) could alleviate some of these loss mechanisms. 30,31 The structureenhanced PLDS (SE-PLDS) architecture offers the possibility to decrease the reflection losses that arise due to the significant difference between the refractive index of the commonly used encapsulants (e.g., polymers) and the underlying substrate.…”