2026-09-19T09:09:06Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1225102026-06-16T18:54:08Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131022
Tonio Buonassisi.
Youssef, Amanda.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
2019-10-11T21:53:52Z
2019-10-11T21:53:52Z
2018
2018
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122510
1121202942
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2018
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 141-155).
With energy demand forecasted to grow significantly, efforts towards mitigating global warming effects by reducing greenhouse gas emissions are becoming stricter as more power generation plants are deployed to meet the global demand. Deployment of renewable energy technologies as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuel is an attractive solution. Photovoltaics (PV) present several advantages over other energy sources because PV is modular, and has proven to be a scalable and reliable technology. A capital expenditure reduction of 70% has been found to be necessary to meet the climate targets of 7-10 TW of PV by 2030. This can be achieved through different channels: improving conversion efficiency and device performance of silicon modules, increasing solar cell manufacturing yield, reducing silicon feedstock material use, etc. This research focuses on n-type monocrystalline silicon and aims to increase conversion efficiency up to 20% relative and increase manufacturing yield up to 50%, as levers to reduce the capital expenditure. The increase in conversion efficiency and manufacturing yield is achieved by defect engineering and mitigation of a lifetime-limiting bulk defect in n-type monocrystalline silicon, characterized by low-lifetime concentric rings. Temperature- and injection-dependent photoluminescence imaging is applied to investigate the defect's root-cause by studying its evolution under several high temperature process conditions and is found to be caused by oxide-related precipitates. Synchrotron-based mic ...
by Amanda Youssef.
Ph.D.
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering
155 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Mechanical Engineering.
Root-cause analysis and characterization of oxygen-related defects in silicon PV material : an approach from macro to nanoscale
Thesis
application/pdf
2019-10-11T21:53:51Z
Publication
Doctoral
MechE
unknown
unknown
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<Abstract>With energy demand forecasted to grow significantly, efforts towards mitigating global warming effects by reducing greenhouse gas emissions are becoming stricter as more power generation plants are deployed to meet the global demand. Deployment of renewable energy technologies as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuel is an attractive solution. Photovoltaics (PV) present several advantages over other energy sources because PV is modular, and has proven to be a scalable and reliable technology. A capital expenditure reduction of 70% has been found to be necessary to meet the climate targets of 7-10 TW of PV by 2030. This can be achieved through different channels: improving conversion efficiency and device performance of silicon modules, increasing solar cell manufacturing yield, reducing silicon feedstock material use, etc. This research focuses on n-type monocrystalline silicon and aims to increase conversion efficiency up to 20% relative and increase manufacturing yield up to 50%, as levers to reduce the capital expenditure. The increase in conversion efficiency and manufacturing yield is achieved by defect engineering and mitigation of a lifetime-limiting bulk defect in n-type monocrystalline silicon, characterized by low-lifetime concentric rings. Temperature- and injection-dependent photoluminescence imaging is applied to investigate the defect's root-cause by studying its evolution under several high temperature process conditions and is found to be caused by oxide-related precipitates. Synchrotron-based mic ...</Abstract>
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