Techno-economic modelling for silicon solar cells

past

Semester/Master project

Context

Perovksite solar cells (PSCs) are going to be the future of PV technology. During the last decade, the enormous jump in the efficiencies of perovksite solar cells from <4% to current levels of >25% make them one of the strongest competitiors to the established Si solar cells industry. The technology has following advantages as compared to the conventional solar cells:

  • low material consumption
  • low-temperature solution based processing
  • roll-to-roll printing/ deposition compatibility i.e, high scalability
  • efficiencies comparable to silicon solar cells > 25%
  • compatible with tandem PV technologies having efficiencies > 30% with easily tunable bandgaps

HOWEVER, in order to surpass the limit of single junciton solar cells, tandem cells are recently gaining huge traction with the advent of perovskite solar cells which provides the possibility of tuning bandgaps by changing their chemical compositions. This will result in harvesting more energy from the given spectrum and will further result in reduced cost of energy. HENCE, this project will focus on modeling and creating the inventory for carrying out the techno-economic assessment (TEA) for Silicon solar cells production based on the existing literature which can then later be used for doing TEA for tandem solar cells. This will involve studying TEA models developed in the literature and coming up with more exhaustive and robust model for such analysis. Further, correlations for scaling-up the equipments and materials depending on the supply chains and auxiliary services required will be developed.

Project

The project will be structured as follows:

  • overview of different technologies used at various steps of the fabrication process
  • first principle models for each of the process steps based on mass and energy balance
  • defining characteristics of techniques like cost, energy consumption, size limit, material and energy efficiencies
  • creating process design based on existing literature using a methodological framework for different types of Si solar cells
  • developing database for material inventory and equipment inventory for solar modules production
  • finding or developing correlation (scaling laws) for equipment cost and efficiency with production capacity
  • finding or developing correlations for labour and space requirements for manufacturing plant
  • developing the model for techno-economic analysis of fabrication of Si cells and calculating various KPis like LCOE, EPBT, EROI etc.
  • carrying out uncertainty analysis using monte-carlo simulations

Skills

  • Interest and understanding of PV technologies and other energy technologies
  • independent and motivated
  • Coding skills in Python or other language are necessary
  • Results interpretation and report writing
  • Language skills: English (C1/C2 level)
  • Systematic thinker and problem-solver oriented
  • Background: Material science, Mechanical (or manufacturing), Micro engineering, Energy science, others

Lectures: - Semiconductor devices I - Fundamentals & processes for photovoltaic devices - Energy conversion and renewable energy

Supervision

If interested, please contact Naveen Bhati (naveen.bhati@epfl.ch) attaching your CV, Cover Letter and transcript of records (Bachelor’s and Master’s). Short-listed candidates will be interviewed. Early applications are encouraged

Practical information

The IPESE laboratory is located in the Sion EPFL campus. Working in Sion office or remotely depends on Covid situation. Travels between Lausanne and Sion are compensated by EPFL.

References:

  1. Chang, N. L., Newman, B. K., & Egan, R. J. (2022). Future cost projections for photovoltaic module manufacturing using a bottom-up cost and uncertainty model.Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 237, 111529.: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927024821005651
  2. Del Canizo, C., Del Coso, G., & Sinke, W. C. (2009). Crystalline silicon solar module technology: Towards the 1€ per watt‐peak goal.Progress in photovoltaics: research and applications,17(3), 199-209.: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pip.878
  3. Louwen, A., Van Sark, W., Schropp, R., & Faaij, A. (2016). A cost roadmap for silicon heterojunction solar cells.Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 147, 295-314. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927024815006741