Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T01:33:40.305Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Viability of Nanotechnology-based InGaN Solar Photovoltaic Devices for Sustainable Energy Generation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2013

Joshua M. Pearce ,
Chenlong Zhang ,
Joseph Rozario  and
Jephias Gwamuri
Joshua M. Pearce
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, U.S.A. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, U.S.A.
Chenlong Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, U.S.A.
Joseph Rozario
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, U.S.A.
Jephias Gwamuri
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, U.S.A.
Get access

Abstract

The unrestrained combustion of fossil fuels has resulted in vast pollution at the local scale throughout the world, while contributing to global warming at a rate that seriously threatens the stability of many of the world's ecosystems. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is a clean, sustainable and renewable energy conversion technology that can help meet the energy demands of the world’s growing population. Although PV technology is mature with commercial modules obtaining over 20% conversion efficiency there remains considerable opportunities to improve performance. The nearly global access to the solar resource coupled to nanotechnology innovation-driven decreases in the costs of PV, provides a path for a renewable energy source to significantly reduce the adverse anthropogenic impacts of energy use by replacing fossil fuels. This study explores several approaches to improving indium gallium nitride-based PV efficiency with nanotechnology: optical enhancement, microstructural optimization for electronic material quality and increasing the spectral response via bandgap engineering. The results showing multibandgap engineering with InGaN and impediments to widespread deployment and commercialization are discussed including technical viability, intellectual property laws and licensing, material resource scarcities, and economics. Future work is outlined and conclusions are drawn to overcome these limitations and improve PV device performance using methods that can scale to the necessary terawatt level.

Keywords

photovoltaicnanostructurethin film
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1558: Symposium Z – Nanotechnology and Sustainability , 2013 , mrss13-1558-z03-06
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

International Energy Agency. World Energy Outlook; (IEA: Paris, France, 2010).Google Scholar
Hoffert, M.I., Caldeira, K., Benford, G., Criswell, D.R., Green, C., Herzog, H., Jain, A.K., Kheshgi, H.S., Lackner, K.S., and Lewis, J.S., Science 298(5595), 981–987 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, N., The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007) .CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearce, J.M., Futures 34(7), 663–674 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smalley, R., Mat. Res. Soc. Bull. 30(6), 412–417 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branker, K., Pathak, M.J.M., Pearce, J.M., Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 15, 4470–4482 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keiser, R.: PV Tech, 2011. [WWW Document] Available at: http://www.pv-tech.org/guest_blog/100gw_of_demand_and_the_coming_inflection_point_in_the_us_solar_market Google Scholar
Green, M.A., Third Generation Photovoltaics: Advanced Solar Energy Conversion, 2nd ed. (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2005) pp. 59–69.Google Scholar
Woodcock, J.M., Schade, H., Maurus, H., Dimmler, B., Springer, J., and Ricaud, A. in A Study of the Upscalling of Thin film Solar Cell Manufacture towards 500 MWp per Annum, (Proc. 14th European PV. Solar Energ. Conf. Barcelona, 1997) pp. 857–860.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, D.V.P. and Pearce, J. M., Metall. Mater. Trans. A 44(4), 1947–1954 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jani, O., Ferguson, I., Honsberg, C., Kurtz, S., App. Phys. Lett. 91(13), 132117 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gwamuri, J., Guney, D., Pearce, J.M. in Solar Cell Nanotechnology, edited by Tiwari, A., Boukherroub, R., Sharon, M. (WILEY Scrivener Publishers, USA) 2013.Google Scholar
Keating, S., Urquhart, M.G., McLaughlin, D.V.P., Pearce, J.M., Cryst. Growth Des. 11(2), 565–568 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cao, L., White, J.S., Park, J.S., Schuller, J.A., Clemens, B.M., and Brongersma, M.L., Nat. Mater., 8, 643–647 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, J. M., Nature 491, 519–521 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mushtaq, U. and Pearce, J.M. in Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability, edited by Maclurcan, D., Radywyl, N. (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2012) pp. 191–213.Google Scholar
Pearce, J.M., Nano Today (2013, in prees) DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2013.04.001 Google Scholar
Heller, M.A. and Eisenberg, R.S., Science 280(5364), 698–701 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schummer, J. in Nanoethics: Nanoethics edited by Allhoff, F., Lin, P., Moor, J. and Weckert, J., (Wiley, Hoboken, 2007) pp. 291–307.Google Scholar
Heller, M. A. and Eisenberg, R. S., Science 280(5364), 698–701 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgi, B. R. and Pradeep, T., Current Science 90 (5) 645–658 (2006).Google Scholar
Lemley, M. A., Stanford Law Review 58(2), 601–630 (2005).Google Scholar
Vaidhyanathan, S. in Nanotechnology: Risk, Ethics and Law, edited by Mehta, M. and Hunt, G. (Earthscan, London, 2006) pp. 225–236.Google Scholar
Mowery, D.C., Nelson, R.R., Sampat, B.N., Ziedonis, A.A., Res. Policy 30, 99–119 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garfinkel, S. L., Stallman, R. M., and Kapor, M. in High Noon on the Electronic Front: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace, edited by Ludlow, P., (MIT, Cambridge, 1999) pp. 35–46.Google Scholar
Chesbrough, H., Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape (Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 2006) .Google Scholar
Boldrin, M., Levine, D. K., Against Intellectual Monopoly (Cambridge U., Cambridge, 2008).Google Scholar
Buitenhuis, A. J., Pearce, J. M., Energy for Sust. Dev. 16, 379–388 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
What Will Apple Do When Indium Runs Out in 2017? - Forbes [WWW Document], n.d. Forbes. URL http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/09/what-will-apple-dowhen-indium-runs-out-in-2017/ (accessed 3.16.13).Google Scholar
Touch-and-go tablet and computer screens [WWW Document], n.d. BBC Future. URL http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120308-touch-and-go-screens/1 (accessed 3.16.13).Google Scholar
Wallentin, J., Anttu, N., Asoli, D., Huffman, M., Åberg, I., Magnusson, M. H., Siefer, G., et al. . Science 339(6123), 1057–1060 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S.R. and McLennan, S.M., The continental crust: Its composition and evolution. (Blackwell Scientific Pub., Palo Alto, CA, 1985).Google Scholar