ORIGINAL MLe4208 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE MLE4208 — Photovoltaic Mate (Semester 1: AY2017/18) Time Allowed: 2 Hours INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS L 2 Please write your Student Number only. Do not write your name. This assessment paper contains FOUR (4) questions and comprises FIVE (5) printed pages. Students are required to answer ALL questions. Students should write the answers for each question on a new page. This is a CLOSED BOOK (WITH AUTHORIZED MATERIALS) assessment where ONE (1) single side of A4 size crib sheet is allowed. The only electronic material permitted is a NUS-approved calculator.MLe4208 Question 1 (25 marks) (a) What is the difference between a Lambertian and a specular reflector and which of these can help in increasing the efficiency of solar cells? (6 marks) (b) Below is a plot, which shows the refractive indexes of 4 different types of glasses. If you are a solar cell manufacturer, which type of glass would you use to encapsulate your silicon compare with no glass n= 3.5) solar cells based on their refractive indexes and how does i encapsulation? (Refractive index of air = 1. Refractive index of si (6 marks) 19 Lanthanum dense flint LaSF9 184 17-4 Dense flint SF10 Refractive index 1 T T T T 02 04 06 O08 10 12 14 16 Wavelength 2 (um) (c) The electron mobility in amorphous silicon is much lower than crystalline silicon, so how did scientists overcome this problem in amorphous silicon solar cells? (7 marks) (d) Silicon nitride, an electrical insulator, is commonly used as the anti-reflection coating on silicon solar cells. Describe a method that is used to deposit silicon nitride. (6 marks)MLE4208 Question 2 (25 marks) {a) In silicon solar cells, fingers are printed on the n-type silicon as shown in Figure 12. Could tthe fingers be printed on the p-type silicon (Figure 1b) and make it face the sun instead ~ explain your answer in detail? (Assume the electron diffusion length to be 100 um). ARC back contacts Figure 1a Figure 1b (7 marks) (b) If a material has an absorption coefficient of 3 x 10° cm at 550 nm and an electron diffusion length of 20 nm, what would you do to let it absorb 99.9% of light at 550 nm? (6 marks) {c) Describe the experimental set up for obtaining the external quantum efficiency of solar cell. (6 marks) {d) What is the purpose of edge isolation and what are the techniques that are being used in edge isolation? (6 marks)