Development of dendritic web continuous ribbon silicon cells for use in a linear Fresnel lens photovoltaic concentrator
The primary objective of this program was to design, develop, and test low-cost, continuous ribbon silicon cells suitable for use in ENTECH's linear Fresnel lens photovoltaic concenrator module. The cells were made by Westinghouse using a dendritic web continuous ribbon process. This program represented the first attempt to adapt dendritic web cell fabrication technology to concentrator applications. ENTECH generated an optimized cell design, which included variable metallization matched to the radiant flux profile of the linear Fresnel lens concentrator. Westinghouse fabricated cells in several sequential production runs. The cells were tested by ENTECH under actual lens illumination to determine their performance parameters. The best cells made under this program achieved peak cell efficiencies of about 14%, compared to about 16% for production cells made by Applied Solar Energy Corporation, using float-zone-refined single-crystal silicon. With additional development, significant performance improvements should be achievable in future dendritic web concentrator cells.
- Research Organization:
- Entech, Inc., Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, TX (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5695598
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-86-7032; ON: DE86011017
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Dendritic web silicon photovoltaic cell research
Related Subjects
CONCENTRATOR SOLAR CELLS
DESIGN
PERFORMANCE TESTING
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
CURRENT DENSITY
DENDRITIC WEB GROWTH METHOD
FRESNEL LENS
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EQUIPMENT
LENSES
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
TESTING
140501* - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion