Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Electrical Engineering

Major Professor

Sylvia Thomas, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Arash Takshi, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Andrew Hoff, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Theressa Evans-Nguyen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Scott Campbell, Ph.D.

Keywords

Electrospinning, Infrared shield, Metal oxides, Nanofibers, Solar cell

Abstract

Solar as an energy source is expected to grow fastest from now to 2050. Increasing the efficiency is usually achieved by increasing the short circuit current density (JSC) and/or the fill factor. Improving the efficiency of solar cells will be an ongoing effort.Structurally solar technologies can be classified into two types, wafer-based and thin-film-based. Wafer solar cells have been used in this study. The anti-reflective layer on top of solar cells has been fabricated by a process called electrospinning to tune the solar cells' top surface with the desired thickness and dimensions of the nanofibers. The nanofibers' dimensions, shape, and alignment are tuned by changing the precursor solution's concentration, changing the fabrication parameters such as the 1. Voltage between needle tip and collector plate 2. Distance between needle tip and collector plate and 3. The flow rate of solution in the syringe pump.

Physical or structural properties have been studied by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Dispersive Microscopy (EDS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Electrical characterization was carried out using a short circuit current- Voltage (J-V) and multimeter measurements.

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