Optical losses represent one of the primary obstacles to increasing the efficiency of silicon solar cells. The recommended solution to minimize optical losses is the use of plasmonic metal nanoparticles; however, they act as recombination centers within the solar cell construction, leading to a decrease in performance. The goal of this article is to introduce cobalt/graphene nanoparticles into the solar cell to minimize the optical losses. An ultra-thin film silicon PIN solar cell of dimensions (400 ×400 ×900) nm3 with ring metal contact shape was designed and numerically investigated using COMSOL Multiphysics software version 6.2 by the finite element method (FEM). Core/shell cobalt-graphene (Co/Gr) nanoparticles are periodically introduced into the cell between two layers (electron transport and active) in a ratio of 50:50 with an inter-spacing of a similar diameter. The Co/Gr parameters, number of nanoparticles (2, 4, 6), radius (10, 20, 30) nm, and shell thickness (1, 2, 4) nm were extensively studied. In addition, the arrangement of the core/shell nanoparticle material was considered. The results manifest the best performance of the proposed cell at 4 nanoparticles of 30 nm radius with 2 nm shell thickness for Co/Gr nanoparticles to get a maximum photocurrent of 26.28 mA/cm2. It is concluded that the optical losses of the Co/Gr core/shell nanoparticles embedded in an ultra-thin film silicon solar cell are significantly reduced owing to the increment in the absorption and hence the photocurrent. This enhancement opens a new avenue for further improvements.
The solar eclipse occurs at short time before the crescent birth moment when the moon near any one of moon orbit nodes It is important to determine the synchronic month which is used to find Higree date. The 'rules' of eclipses are:
Y= ± 0.997 of Earth radius , the solar eclipse is central and 0.997 < |Y| < 1.026 the umbra cone touch the surface of the Earth, where Y is the least distance from the axis of the moon's shadow to the center of the Earth in units of the equatorial radius of the Earth.
A new model have been designed, depend on the horizontal coordinates of the sun, moon, the distances Earth-Moon (rm), Earth-sun (rs) and |Y| to determine the date and times of total solar eclipse and the geogra
... Show MoreSolar cells has been assembly with electrolytes including I−/I−3 redox duality employ polyacrylonitrile (PAN), ethylene carbonate (EC), propylene carbonate (PC), with double iodide salts of tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) and Lithium iodide (LiI) and iodine (I2) were thoughtful for enhancing the efficiency of the solar cells. The rendering of the solar cells has been examining by alteration the weight ratio of the salts in the electrolyte. The solar cell with electrolyte comprises (60% wt. TBAI/40% wt. LiI (+I2)) display elevated efficiency of 5.189% under 1000 W/m2 light intensity. While the solar cell with electrolyte comprises (60% wt. LiI/40% wt. TBAI (+I2)) display a lower efficiency of 3.189%. The conductivity raises with the
... Show MoreThe thermal performance of three solar collectors with 3, 6 mm and without perforation absorber plate was assessed experimentally. The experimental tests were implemented in Baghdad during the January and February 2017. Five values of airflow rates range between 0.01 – 0.1 m3/s were used through the test with a constant airflow rate during the test day. The variation of the following parameters air temperature difference, useful energy, absorber plate temperature, and collector efficiency was recorded every 15 minutes. The experimental data reports that the increases the number of absorber plate perforations with a small diameter is more efficient rather than increasing the hole diameter of the absorber plate with decr
... Show MoreThe aim of this work is to explore the thermal performance of a tracked tubular solar still (TSS) with a parabolic trough concentrator in Baghdad (33.27° N, 44.37° E) in September 2022. The present tubular still is distinguished by its hexagonal glass cover. The effect of integrating the TSS with a heat pipe, the still tilt angle (10°, 15°), and the depth of saline water inside the still partitions on the productivity of freshwater are investigated. The results showed that using heat pipe enhances the freshwater productivity by 25%–40% and the efficiency by 25%. For the still integrated with heat pipe, as the water depth is increased from 5.5 to 6.5 cm the productivity of freshwater is incre
In this research, design of advanced material for sunlight conversion requires focused research to obtain efficient photocatalytic system. Nanostructured ZnO was synthesized using spin coating technique. The structural, morphological and optical properties of annealed nanostructured ZnO thin film at 390 Co for 3 hours were characterized by x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscope AFM and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Nanostructured ZnO was applied for removal Methylene Blue (MB) dye from water using sunlight induced photocatalytic process. Overall degradation of MB/ZnO was achieved after 120 minutes of sunlight irradiation while it needs more time for MB alone. The reaction rate constant fit pseudo first order for MB/ZnO degradation was 0.
... Show MoreIn this research an experimental study has done for testing the thermal performance of selective surfaces used in solar collectors for substrate of iron, galvanized iron and aluminum which are commercially available. The coating process for the samples has done in two ways, the electroplating and the chemical spray pyrolysis. The results of the thermal performance test of these samples are comparing with the thermal performance of a sample without paint and other paint with black paint without shines commercially available. For the electroplated samples, the performance study has done for different immersion time in plating bath, the
distance between electrical poles, the current density, and area ratio of the sample plated area to
A numerical study of the double-diffusive laminar natural convection in a right triangular solar collector has been investigated in present work. The base (absorber) and glass cover of the collector are isothermal and isoconcentration surfaces, while the vertical wall is considered adiabatic and impermeable. Both aiding and opposing buoyancy forces have been studied. Governing equations in vorticity-stream function form are discretized via finite-difference method and are solved numerically by iterative successive under relaxation (SUR) technique. Computer code for MATLAB software has been developed and written to solve mathematical model. Results in the form of streamlines, isotherms, isoconcentration, average Nusselt, and average Sherw
... Show MoreLight soaking (LS) is widely employed to optimize CdTe-based solar cells, yet its microscopic origin remains controversial due to the entangled roles of illumination and thermal activation. Here, we establish a decoupled experimental strategy that independently disentangles light exposure and heating, revealing their fundamentally distinct and competing effects on defect dynamics in CdSeTe solar cells. Illumination alone induces a backward drift of acceptors under the light-enhanced built-in field, reducing apparent hole density and suppressing open-circuit voltage. In contrast, thermal activation promotes Cu redistribution toward the front junction and eliminates deep recombination centers, partially restoring device performance. Remarka
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