• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.121-125
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• 2015

BIPV system is one of the best ways to harness PV module. The BIPV system not only produces electricity, but also acts as a building envelope. Thus, it has the strong point of increasing the economical efficiency by applying the PV modules to the buildings. Bifacial solar cells can convert solar energy to electrical energy from both sides of the module. In addition, it is designed as 3 busbar layout which is the same with ordinary mono-facial soalr cells. Therefore, many of the module manufacturers can easily produce the bifacial solar cells without changing their manufacturing equipment. Moreover, bifacial BIPV system has much potential in building application by utilizing glass to glass structure. However, the performance of bifacial solar cells depends on a variety of factors, ranging from the back surface to surrounding conditions. Therefore, in order to apply bifacial solar cells to buildings, an analysis of bifacial PV module performance should be carried out that includes a consideration of various design elements, and reflects a wide range of installation conditions. As a result it found that the white insulation reflector type can improve the performance of the bifacial BIPV system by 16%, compared to the black insulation reflector type. The performance of the bifacial BIPV was also shown to be influenced by inclination angle, due to changes in both the amount of radiation captured on the front face and the radiation transmitted to the rear face through the transparent space. In this study is limited design condition and installation condition. Accordingly follow-up researches in this part need to be conducted.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.57-66
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• 2015

BIPV system not only produces electricity at building, but also acts as a material for building envelope. Thus, it can increase the economical efficiency of PV system by saving the cost for building materials. Bifacial solar cell can convert solar energy to electrical energy from both sides of the cell. In addition, it is designed as 3 busbar layout which is the same with ordinary mono-facial solar cells. Therefore, many of the module manufacturers can easily use the bifacial solar cells without changing their manufacturing equipments. Moreover, bifacial PV system has much potential in building application by utilizing glass-to-glass structure of PV module. However, the electrical generation of the bifacial PV module depends on the characteristics of the building surface which faces the module, as well as outdoor environment. Therefore, in order to apply the bifacial PV module to building envelope as BIPV system, its power generation characteristics are carefully evaluated. For this purpose this study focused on the electrical performance of the bifacial BIPV system through the comparative outdoor experiments. As a result, the power generation performance of the bifacial BIPV system was improved by up to 21% compared to that of the monofacial BIPV system. Therefore, it is claimed that the bifacial BIPV system can replace the conventional BIPV system to improve the PV power generation in buildings.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.31-41
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• 2016

n-type PERT (passivated emitter, rear totally diffused) bifacial solar cells with boron and phosphorus diffusion as p+ emitter and n+ BSF (back surface field) have attracted significant research interest recently. In this work, the influences of wafer thickness, bulk lifetime, emitter, BSF on the photovoltaic characteristics of solar cells are discussed. The performance of the solar cell is determined by using one-dimensional solar cell simulation software PC1D. The simulation results show that the key role of the BSF is to decrease the surface doping concentration reducing the recombination and thus, increasing the cell efficiency. A lightly phosphorus doped BSF (LD BSF) was experimentally optimized to get low surface dopant concentration for n type bifacial solar cells. Pre-oxidation combined with a multi-plateau drive-in, using limited source diffusion was carried out before pre-deposition. It could reduce the surface dopant concentration with minimal impact on the sheet resistance.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.402-405
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• 2008

SunPower's corporate mission is to reduce the installed cost of solar electricity 50% by 2012. As part of that mission, the company is continually exploring novel technologies that might enable progress towards the goal. This paper describes SunPower's efforts to decrease the levelized cost of electricity for solar power plants through the use of bifacial cell and system technology. The results of the first production run of SunPower bifacial cells and modules are presented. Future bifacial system development plans are reviewed.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.62-67
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• 2018

Multi-wire busbar-type bifacial n-type Si solar cells have been used for the fabrication of monofacial and bifacial photovoltaic (PV) module, where bifacial module was equipped with transparent backsheet while monofacial module was prepared using white backsheet. The comparison of six-day accumulated power production obtained from outdoor test under gray cement ground conditions using 60cell monofacial and bifacial PV modules suggested the bifacial gain of over 20% could be achieved. Furthermore, the outdoor evaluation tests of bifacial modules with different ground conditions such as cement (reference), green paint, white paint and green artificial grass, were performed. It turned out white paint showed the best albedo and thus the highest power production, while green paint and artificial grass showed less power generation than cement ground.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 2004

A new method for fabrication of transistor like structure of the bifacial solar cell using spin-on doping and electroless plating has been proposed and the basic characteristics of the bifacial cell have been investigated. It is found that 9％ increase in short circuit current is achieved with bifacial connection than the unifacial connection. Some unwanted effect of the series resistance on collection efficiency under different mode of illumination has been pointed out. Loss mechanisms inherent in the transistor like bifacial structure have also been discussed.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2022

Bifacial photovoltaic (PV) technology has received considerable attention in recent years due to the potential to achieve a higher annual energy yield compared to its monofacial PV systems. In this study, we fabricated the bifacial c-Si PV module with a shingled design using the conventional patterned bifacial solar cells. The shingled design PV module has recently attracted attention as a high-power module. Compared to the conventional module, it can have a much more active area due to the busbar-free structure. We employed the transparent backsheet for a light reception at the rear side of the PV module. Finally, we achieved a conversion power of 453.9 W for a 1300 mm × 2000 mm area. Moreover, we perform reliability tests to verify the durability of our Shingled Design Bifacial c-Si Photovoltaic module.

• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1268-1274
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• 2018

We have investigated the effects of chemical rounding (CR) on the surface passivation and/or antireflection performance of $AlO_{x^-}$ and $AlO_x/SiN_x:H$ stack-passivated pyramid textured $p^+$-emitters with two different boron doping concentrations, and on the performance of bifacial n-PERT Si solar cells with a front pyramid textured $p^+$-emitter. From experimental results, we found that chemical rounding markedly enhances the passivation performance of $AlO_x$ layers on pyramid textured $p^+$-emitters, and the level of performance enhancement strongly depends on boron doping concentration. Meanwhile, chemical rounding increases solar-weighted reflectance ($R_{SW}$) from ~2.5 to ~3.7% for the $AlO_x/SiN_x:H$ stack-passivated pyramid textured $p^+$-emitters after 200-sec chemical rounding. Consequently, compared to non-rounded bifacial n-PERT Si cells, the short circuit current density Jsc of 200-sec-rounded bifacial n-PERT Si cells with ~60 and ${\sim}100{\Omega}/sq$ $p^+$-emitters is reduced by 0.8 and $0.6mA/cm^2$, respectively under front $p^+$-emitter side illumination. However, the loss in the short circuit current density Jsc is fully offset by the increased fill factor FF by 0.8 and 1.5% for the 200-sec-rounded cells with ~60 and ${\im}100{\Omega}/sq$ $p^+$-emitters, respectively. In particular, the cell efficiency of the 200-sec-rounded cells with a ${\sim}100{\Omega}/sq$ $p^+$-emitter is enhanced as a result, compared to that of the non-rounded cells. Based on our results, it could be expected that the cell efficiency of bifacial n-PERT Si cells would be improved without additional complicated and costly processes if chemical rounding and boron doping processes can be properly optimized.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.111-122
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• 2021

Silicon heterojunction technology (HJT) solar cells have received considerable attention due to advantages that include high efficiency over 26%, good performance in the real world environment, and easy application to bifacial power generation using symmetric device structure. Furthermore, ultra-highly efficient perovskite/c-Si tandem devices using the HJT bottom cells have been reported. In this paper, we discuss the unique feature of the HJT solar cells, the fabrication processes and the current status of technology development. We also investigate practical challenges and key technologies of the HJT solar cell manufacturers for reducing fabrication cost and increasing productivity.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.97-102
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• 2019

Bifacial and semitransparent hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells in p-i-n configuration were prepared with front and rear transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrodes using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Fluorine-doped tin oxide and tin-doped indium oxide films were used as front and rear TCO contacts, respectively. Film thickness of intrinsic a-Si:H absorber layers were controlled from 150 nm to 450 nm by changing deposition time. The dependence of performance characteristics of solar cells on the front and rear illumination direction were investigated. For front illumination, gradual increase in the short-circuit current density (J_SC) from 10.59 mA/㎠ to 14.19 mA/㎠ was obtained, whereas slight decreases from 0.83 V to 0.81 V for the open-circuit voltage (V_OC) and from 68.43% to 65.75% for fill factor (FF) were observed. The average optical transmittance in the wavelength region of 380 ~ 780 nm of the solar cells decreased gradually from 22.76% to 15.67% as the absorber thickness was changed from 150 nm to 450 nm. In case of the solar cells under rear illumination condition, the J_SC increased from 10.81 to 12.64 mA/㎠ and the FF deceased from 66.63% to 61.85%, while the V_OC values were maintained at 0.80 V with increasing the absorber thickness from 150 nm to 450 nm. By optimizing the deposition parameters, a high-quality bifacial and semitransparent a-Si:H solar cell with 350 nm-thick i-a-Si:H absorber layer exhibited the conversion efficiencies of 7.69% for front illumination and 6.40% for rear illumination, and average visible optical transmittance of 17.20%.