Overview
Explore the main PV technologies in the current market, to gain in-depth knowledge on the design and processing methods of solar cells.
The technologies used to produce solar cells and photovoltaic modules are advancing to deliver highly efficient and flexible solar panels. In this course you will explore the main PV technologies in the current market. You will gain in-depth knowledge about crystalline silicon based solar cells (90% market share) as well as other emerging technologies including CdTe, CIGS and Perovskites. This course provides answers to the questions: How are solar cells made from raw materials? Which technologies have the potential to be the major players for different applications in the future?
MicroMaster Program
This course is part of the Solar Energy Engineering MicroMasters Program designed to cover all physics and engineering aspects of photovoltaics: photovoltaic energy conversion, technologies and systems.
What you'll learn:
- Design concepts and fabrication processes of various photovoltaic technologies,
- In-depth knowledge on the entire crystalline silicon solar cell landscape including,
- Market-leading polycrystalline based cells
- High efficiency/cutting edge monocrystalline based solar cells
- Application of thin film solar cells, like CIGS, CdTe, thin-film silicon, Perovskites,
- Concentrated PV and space applications for III/V semiconductor based solar cells.
Details
Course Syllabus
Part 1. Crystalline silicon
Week 1. Introduction & Crystalline Silicon I
1.2 Introduction to Silicon
1.3 Silicon Processing
Week 2. Crystalline Silicon II
2.1 c-Si Solar Cell Design
2.2 Advanced cell design
2.3 From cell to module
Part 2. Solar Cell Characterization
Week 3. Solar cell characterization
3.1 J-V Measurement
3.2 EQE Measurement
3.3 Reflectance - Transmittance Measurement
3.4 Lifetime Measurement
EXAM
Part 3. Thin Film Processing
Week 4. Thin Film Processing
4.1 Thin Film Design
4.2 Thin Film Deposition
Part 4. Thin Film Technologies
Week 5. Thin Film Silicon
5.1 TF Silicon Properties
5.2 Major Challenges
5.3 TF Silicon Processing
5.4 State of the Art TF Silicon Devices
EXAM
Week 6. Chalcogenides & III-V Technologies
6.1 Chalcogenides - CIGS
6.2 Chalcogenides - CdTe
6.3 III-V - Material and Devices
6.4 III-V - Special Applications
Week 7. Organic Photovoltaics
7.1 OPV Basics
7.2 OPV Technologies
7.3 Perovskites
Part 5. Comparing and Combining Technologies
Week 8. Comparing & Combining Technologies
8.1 Comparing PV Technologies
8.2 Hybrid PV Devices
8.3 Hybrid PV Systems
EXAM
License
Unless otherwise specified, the Course Materials of this course are Copyright Delft University of Technology and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Admission
This is a MicroMaster Course that runs on EdX.
Prerequisites
- Bachelor's degree in Science or Engineering and/or the successful completion of PV1x (or firm grasp of its content).
