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26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 437-440, This paper presents the design, fabrication, and testing of lightweight, flexible photovoltaic modules. The modules are constructed using mono-crystalline silicon Sliver cells. The modules are designed to have a power output of at least 130 W/m2; to have a very high power to weight ratio of over 150 W/kg; to be roll-able around a radius of curvature of 5 cm or smaller; and to be able to operate under a wide range of operating conditions, including under partial shading and after structural damage due to punctures.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 759-762, We have studied the excitation rate of Lumogen Red dye molecules by enhanced local electromagnetic field of Au nanoparticles for thin film luminescent solar concentrator (LSCs).The localized enhanced electromagnetic field of Au nanoparticles leads to an increase the excitation rate, and consequently in emission rate of dye molecules. By varying the distance between Au nanoparticles and dye film we showed transition form quenching to enhancement in edge emission and resultant ISC current output of thin film LSCs. When dye molecules were placed in the range of enhanced electromagnetic field of Au nanoparticles. Two competing factors affected the edge emission of thin film LSC; increased excitation rate (by enhanced local electromagnetic field of Au nanoparticles) and distance between Au nanoparticles and dye molecules.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 218-222, The high near-field enhancement occurring in the vicinity of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) sustaining surface plasmons can only be fully exploited in photovoltaic devices if the MNPs are placed inside their semiconducting material, in the photoactive region. In this work an experimental procedure is studied to embed MNPs in gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon (Si), which can be applied to other semiconductor host materials. The approach consists in spin-coating colloidal MNPs dispersed in solution onto the substrate surface. Then a capping layer of the same material as the substrate is deposited on top to embed the MNPs in the semiconductor. The extinction spectra of silver (Ag) and gold (Au) MNPs embedded in GaAs and Si is modeled with Mie theory for comparison with optical measurements. This contribution constitutes the initial step towards the realization of quantum-dot intermediate band solar cells (QD-IBSC) with MNPs.

26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 415-417, Optical properties of ZnTe1-xOx (ZnTeO) and evidence for the photovoltaic (PV) activity of a ZnTeO intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) are reported. Electron transitions from the intermediate band to the conduction band were observed by photomodulated reflectance measurements. The optical absorption coefficients for the electron transition from the valence band to the intermediate band exceeds 2 104 cm-1, suitable for thin film PV device applications. The ZnTeO IBSC exhibits an enhanced spectral response below the bandedge of ZnTe, and all results are consistent with the proposed conversion mechanism of IBSC.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 612-613, Silicon wire arrays with excellent pattern fidelity over wafer-scale area were grown by chemical vapour deposition, for applications in radial junction solar cells. Using a process based on a mixture of silane and hydrogen chloride, the growth could be performed at temperatures as low as 600°C, which are compatible with the use of lowcost substrates such as glass or metal foils.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 265-268, Next generations of solar cells require optical management at the sub-wavelength scale. In this regime, conventional light trapping techniques based on anti-reflection coatings and scattering structures are no more efficient. In this paper, we propose a multi-resonant ultra-thin solar cell with 25 nm-thick GaAs absorber. Strong optical confinement is achieved by metallic nanostructures. High absorption efficiency and low metal absorption losses are demonstrated numerically in the 500-800 nm wavelength range. The predicted efficiency of the ultra-thin solar cell is 17 %, with a nearly 100-fold decrease in absorber thickness compared to most thin-film photovoltaic devices.