• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




‘Atomic switcheroo’ explains origins of thin-film solar cell mystery

Posted at 10:40 am May 4, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Current Maps

Cross-sectional electron beam-induced current maps show the difference in cadmium telluride solar cells before (pictured above) and after (below) cadmium chloride treatment. The increased brightness after treatment indicates higher current collection at the grain boundaries. (Submitted photo)

Treating cadmium-telluride (CdTe) solar cell materials with cadmium-chloride improves their efficiency, but researchers have not fully understood why. Now, an atomic-scale examination of the thin-film solar cells led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has answered this decades-long debate about the materials’ photovoltaic efficiency increase after treatment.

A research team from ORNL, the University of Toledo, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory used electron microscopy and computational simulations to explore the physical origins of the unexplained treatment process. The results are published in Physical Review Letters, or PRL.

Thin-film CdTe solar cells are considered a potential rival to silicon-based photovoltaic systems because of their theoretically low cost per power output and ease of fabrication. Their comparatively low historical efficiency in converting sunlight into energy, however, has limited the technology’s widespread use, especially for home systems. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Andrew Lupini, cadmium-chloride, cadmium-telluride, CdTe, cell efficiency, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Chen Li, chlorine, CNMS, DOE, energy, Grain-Boundary-Enhanced Carrier Collection in CdTe Solar Cells, Jonathan Poplawsky, Mark Oxley, Mowafak Al-Jassim, Naba Paudel, Nanoscale Science Research Centers, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL, NSRC, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Ohio Research Scholar Program, ORNL, Physical Review Letters, PRL, Sarah Haigh, solar cell, Stephen Pennycook, sunlight, SunShot Initiative, tellurium, Timothy Pennycook, U.S. Department of Energy, UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Tennessee, University of Toledo, Vanderbilt University, Wanjian Yin, Yanfa Yan, Yelong Wu

Search Oak Ridge Today

Classifieds

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • Tower rebuilding complete, South Illinois re-opened overnight
  • DOE photographer dies at 62
  • South Illinois Avenue to re-open by midnight
  • AC Democratic Women to hear about income inequality Monday
  • Photos: TVA transmission tower repair
  • South Illinois could re-open Monday
  • Crews repairing damage after crash knocks down power tower
  • Part of South Illinois Ave. remains closed
  • Power restored to Oak Ridge except for Arboretum
  • Charges pending, three injured in crash into TVA transmission tower
A Twitter List by OakRidgeToday

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today