Energy Harvesting

III
Natural Sciences Tripos Part III
MATERIALS SCIENCE
M19: Energy Harvesting
Name............................. College..........................
Dr. Sohini Kar-Narayan
Michaelmas Term 2014-15
2014 15
M19 Energy Harvesting

(Dr S Kar-Narayan)
This course covers the basic principles and recent advances in energy harvesting technologies
for small-power applications, including self-powered or autonomous systems.
Lecture 1: Overall scope and objectives. Introduction to energy harvesting for

autonomous systems; energy requirements and power sources. The role of materials in
energy harvesting.
Lectures 2 4: Photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting. Evolution of PV materials and
devices. Nanostructuring as a route to cheap and efficient PV technologies.
Lecture 5 7: Mechanical energy harvesting. Transduction mechanisms. Piezoelectric,
electromagnetic and electrostatic generators. Nano-piezoelectric generators: materials,
performance and example devices. New-generation triboelectric nanogenerators.
Lecture 8. Thermoelectric energy harvesting. Basic thermoelectric theory.
Thermoelectric figures of merit. Novel nanostructured thermoelectric materials and
devices.
Lecture 9: Thermal energy harvesting using pyroelectric materials. Thermodynamic
cycles for pyroelectric energy harvesting. Nanostructured and micro-scale materials and
devices.
Lecture 10: Microbatteries. Thin film batteries for energy storage Materials for
high-energy density 2D and 3D batteries.
Lecture 11: Supercapacitors. Electrolyte and electrode materials. Fundamentals,
challenges and applications.
Lecture 12: Energy harvesting circuits and architectures. Power management
electronics. Relevant circuits and systems.
Recommended textbooks:
Energy Harvesting for Autonomous Systems - Stephen Beeby and Neil White, Artech
House.
Energy Autonomous Micro and Nano Systems Marc Belleville and Cyril
Condemine, Wiley.
Energy Materials Duncan Bruce, Dermot OHare, Richard Walton, Wiley.
Energy Harvesting Technologies Shashank Priya, Daniel Inman, Springer
Additionally, there are several useful resources available on the internet.
ENERGY HARVESTING Lecture 1

Introduction
Energy-autonomous systems
Power requirements
Ambient power sources
Energy storage
Role of Materials
1
Introduction
Energy harvesting from ambient sources for self-powered
micro/nanoelectronic devices.
Modern electronics is driven by the reduction in size of devices and the

increase in functionality.
Traditional power sources such as batteries need replacing/recharging, do
not scale easily with size.
Some energy harvesting applications:
- Portable electronics and wireless sensors
- Bio-devices
- Devices in remote or dangerous locations
- Devices embedded in structures
- Wearable electronics
Bulky batteries
Smart Mater. Struct. 17 (2008) 043001
Energy-autonomous systems
Advances in low-power electronics and energy harvesting could make the powering of autonomous
systems from ambient energy sources a reality.
Autonomous systems commonly refer to wireless sensor nodes (WSN) devices that can be deployed
to monitor parameters of interest and to report these observations back, often to a central data collector
known as a sink. [More generally, the term can be used to include small-power consumer electronics
including mobile phones, iPods etc.]
Bare minimum requirement of a WSN: 8-bit microcontroller, radio transceiver, sensor and power supply,
additional passive circuitry. Nodes have been conventionally battery-powered, but this limits their useful
lifetime and the activities they can undertake.
Energy harvesting can eliminate the cost and inconvenience of replacing batteries, reduce waste and
potentially enhance the energy-awareness of sensor nodes.
Power requirements
The multibillion dollar portable electronics market is an attractive arena for micro- and macro-scale energy
harvesting when power requirements can be met. For e.g. the average mobile phone has a power
consumption ~1 W during a call and ~ 10 mW in standby.
In situations where energy harvesting is incapable of delivering watts of power, it may permit a nearindefinite standby lifetime or even recharge the device when not in active use. Where battery replacement is
not feasible, energy harvesting could potentially extend the battery life of such devices significantly or even
indefinitely.
Self-powered wireless sensors for IoT devices

Harvesting energy from ambient sources in our environment has generated tremendous interest as it offers a fundamental
energy solution for small-power applications including, but not limited to, ubiquitous wireless sensor nodes, portable, flexible
and wearable electronics, biomedical implants and structural monitoring devices. As an example, consider that the number of
smart devices linking everyday objects via the internet is estimated to grow to 50 billion by the year 2020. Most of these
Internet of Things devices will be extraordinarily small and in many cases embedded, and will wirelessly provide useful data
that will make our lives easier, better and more energy-efficient. The only sustainable way to power them is using
ambient energy harvesting that lasts through the product lifetime.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the interconnection of

uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices
within the existing Internet infrastructure. The
interconnection of these embedded devices (including
smart objects), is expected to usher in automation in
nearly all fields, with applications in
environmental/structural monitoring, resource
management, smart city development etc.
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Power requirements and energy management

Radio-based communication technologies have achieved dominance for WSNs. A network of WSNs allows for individual
nodes to cooperate and participate in routing data in the network. The challenging vision of smart dust (Kris Peter, Univ.
California Berkley late 1990s) was for cubic millimetre-sized WSNs, including sensing, power, computation and
communication hardware, distributed liberally throughout the environment, providing intelligence to everyday objects.
Reducing power requirements of WSNs is essential. Power can be conserved by sensing only when required and powering off
as much as possible between measurements. The entire node architecture needs to be designed with the specific application
at hand to maximise the efficiency.
For e.g. a high-speed processor may be more efficient than a low-speed one, but at a higher peak power usage. Slower lowpower devices may be more suitable in certain cases. One must match the computing power to the actual application. A twoprocessor solution has been suggested whereby a small-power processor is used for low-intensity tasks and a larger processor
is turned on to perform processor-intense functions and communication.
Intelligent energy management involves monitoring the availability of harvested energy from multiple ambient energy
sources and enabling decisions to be made regarding how long a WSN should spend in the low-power sleep mode if the
energy used in its active state is to be replenished. For e.g. during times of low ambient energy, a sleep duration may be set
that will not allow fill replenishment of the energy source between cycles, but will keep the WSN at the minimum level of
availability required. Once more energy is available, the WSN can replenish its energy source and have its availability
increased by reducing the sleep time.
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Power requirements
The active current draw of sensor nodes is typically several orders of magnitude larger than the sleep current.
Thus, overall power requirement of sensor nodes depends on the duty cycle (DC), i.e. the percentage of one
period in which the node is active.
Energy reduction = (1 DC) (1 Psleep/Pactive)
Submilliwatt average operating powers mean that sensor nodes can potentially be powered for very long
periods by batteries, or indefinitely using harvested energy. The rate of power generation from energy
harvesting devices is typically insufficient to directly power the sensor node in its active mode, so it is necessary
to store the energy in capacitors or rechargeable batteries.
Regenerative energy harvesting

- Ambient sources could replace the need for batteries
- Sun, ubiquitous vibrations, waste heat etc.
Ambient power sources
Energy density comparison of natural energy sources
10
Ambient power sources The Sun

The Sun emits electromagnetic radiation as a black body at 5800 K. The energy distribution increases in intensity
from the ultraviolet (UV) to the visible, with a maximum around 500 nm, tailing into the infrared (IR) and some in
the radiowave, microwave, X-ray and gamma ray regions.
Sunlight is clean and abundant more energy strikes the Earth in 1 h (4.3 X 1020 J) than all the energy consumed
on the planet in a year (4.1 X 1020 J) !! Solar energy conversion is thus a broad and rapidly exploding research
field, spurred on by government incentives and lower production costs.
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Ambient power sources The Sun

X-rays, gamma rays and UV radiation below 200 nm in wavelength are absorbed selectively by nitrogen and oxygen
in the atmosphere, UV radiation between 200 nm and 300 nm is absorbed by ozone (O3) in the stratosphere, IR
radiation above 700 nm is partially absorbed by CO2, O3 and water, and 30 % of the visible radiation (400 700 nm)
is reflected back by the atmosphere or the Earths surface.
At high noon on a cloudless day, the surface of the Earth typically receives ~ 1000 W of solar power per square
metre (I kW/m2). A cloudy day will provide ~100 W/m2 and ~5 W/m2 will be incident on most surfaces within a welllit room.
Typical solar cells have efficiency values between 5 20 % under standard conditions and will often be much less
efficient under low illumination levels.
The disadvantages of solar power include constraints in terms of positioning, period of operation, incompatibility
with embedded/indoor devices.
Solar energy is commonly used in low-power electronic devices such as calculators. It is also often employed for
isolated noncritical outdoor systems such as parking meters, weather stations and traffic information systems. It is
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less likely to be used in portable high-power systems.
Mechanical energy harvesting

Ubiquitous nature of vibrations makes mechanical energy harvesting a promising energy generation technology.
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Mechanical energy harvesting techniques

-Electromagnetic energy harvesting
Production of electricity from the motion
of a magnetic field relative to a conductive coil, which causes
current to flow in the coil
Well-established, but challenges in MEMS technology: assembly and alignment of submillimetre electromagnetic systems for implementation into small electronic devices is
difficult
-Electrostatic energy harvesting
Based on the changing capacitance of vibration-dependent varactors.
Can be integrated into MEMS, but require input voltage/charge, issues with parasitic
capacitances
- Piezoelectric energy harvesting
Based on inherent piezoelectric properties of certain materials
Simplest means of scavenging power directly from ambient vibrations, well suited to
MEMS, relatively easy to fabricate, no requirements for input voltage/charge or
additional complex circuitry and/or geometries
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Thermal energy harvesting

Thermal energy is ubiquitous and found in almost any environment, a large amount of which is unused.
In 1821, Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered that a thermal gradient formed between two dissimilar conductors
produces a voltage. At the heart of the thermoelectric effect is the fact that a temperature gradient in a conducting
material results in heat flow; this results in the diffusion of charge carriers. The flow of charge carriers between the
hot and cold regions in turn creates a voltage difference. The Seebeck effect is thus the underlying principle of
thermal energy harvesting.
Thermoelectric devices can be used to convert waste heat from automobiles or industry into useful electricity. They
can also be integrated into autonomous systems to enhance their capability and lifetime by harvesting thermal
energy from the environment. This can even be in the form of human body heat.
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Typically the average rate of heat generation for a human body is 100 W, and in normal environments, the
temperature difference between the human body and ambient is ~ 5 10 K. The power output that can be
harvested using a thermoelectric device is estimated to be ~ 20 50 PW/cm2, i.e. 2 5 mW may be obtained with
a realistic surface area of 0.1 m2. For e.g. self-powered energy harvesting aircraft seat with embedded WSN that
report information such as occupancy, backrest, tray-table position etc. to a remote flight attendance panel.
Schematic of a thermoelectric wristwatch. A miniature thermoelectric converter that consists of 2,268 pairs of
Bi2Te3 thermocouples is mounted on the bottom case of the watch. It produces on average 25 W of electricity
from a temperature difference of 23 K generated by body heat. The conversion efficiency is about 0.1%
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Thermal energy harvesting using pyroelectric materials

Pyroelectric materials are polar materials and exhibit a spontaneous polarization Ps in the absence of an applied electric
field. Examples of polarisation include that of ionically bonded materials whereby the polarisation can be a consequence
of the crystal structure, while in crystalline polymers with aligned molecular chains it can be due to the alignment of
polarised covalent bonds.
The ability of small changes in temperature to produce a pyroelectric
current has been exploited for infra-red imaging and motion
detection by body heat. This small electric current can also be
considered for energy harvesting applications.
Thermoelectric materials and systems generate electrical power from
temperature gradients (dT/dx) while pyroelectric materials produce
power from temperature fluctuations (dT/dt). Pyroelectric materials
are of interest since under the correct conditions they have the
potential to operate with a high thermodynamic efficiency and,
compared to thermoelectrics, do not require bulky heat sinks to
maintain a temperature gradient.
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Energy storage
There has been tremendous interest in the development of microenergy storage devices, in particular batteries and
electrochemical capacitors, to be used in conjunction with one or more energy harvesters to provide permanent power to
autonomous wireless systems.
Electrochimica Acta 45, 2483 (2000)
Development of micro-batteries and super-capacitors
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Role of materials in energy harvesting technologies

The development of energy harvesting technologies has been spurred by the development of materials in the
respective fields. The ultimate success of energy harvesting technologies would depend on the development of
novel materials and smart devices.
Photovoltaic technology:
Crystalline silicon This forms the basis of established PV technology. Si-based systems maje up ~ 90% of the
current PV market. The raw materials are expensive and require energy-intensive processing (high purity Si
wafers). Polycrystalline solar cells have lower efficiency due to the relative impurity of the Si and therefore
require a larger area.
Thin-film technologies Advantages include ease of manufacture of large area at lower cost, wider range of
applications, attractive appearance, possibility of assembling devices using flexible substrates. Most established
thin-film technology use amorphous Si (a-Si). Others include Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Copper Indium
(Gallium) Diselenide (CIGS). Multijunction devices with improved efficiencies.
Emergent technologies These are mostly driven by nanotechnology, including dye-sensitised solar cells,
organic polymer solar cells and bulk-heterojunction solar cells.
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Role of materials in energy harvesting technologies

Mechanical energy harvesting technology:
(Piezoelectric energy harvesting)
Traditional ceramics including Lead zirconium titanate and Barium titanate.
Piezoelectric semiconductors e.g. Zinc oxide.
Piezoelectric polymers, e.g. poly(vinylidene fluoride).
Next generation nanogenerators driven by advances in nanotechnology
Thermal energy harvesting technology:
Nanotechnology-driven advances!
End of Lecture 1
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Solar Energy Harvesting (Part 1)
Semiconductor Basics
Solar cell working principle
Performance parameters and requirements
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Solar Energy Harvesting

Electronic devices positioned outdoors, in rooms with windows or frequently used artificial light sources could
benefit from photovoltaic (PV) technologies. The Sun can provide 1000 W/cm2 of optical power outdoors on a
sunny day 100 W/cm2 on a cloudy day, and around 5 W/cm2 within a well-lit room.
Solar energy harvesting is based on PV cells which generate electric current when exposed to light. PV cells are
based on semiconductor materials mostly.
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Semiconductor basics
A semiconductor has low concentrations of thermally generated intrinsic charge carriers at finite temperatures. It can
be made n-type by adding donor atoms (e.g. phosphorus in silicon) , or p-type by adding acceptor impurities (e.g.
boron in silicon).
When a junction is formed between n- and p-type semiconductors, the concentration gradient of charge carriers at
the junction causes a net diffusion of electrons from n- type material to the p-type material and net diffusion of holes
from p-type material to n-type material, leaving behind a charged depletion region on either side of the junction. This
leads to the formation of an electrostatic field and a built-in voltage across the junction.
This built-in potential is used to separate photo-generated electron-hole pairs that are created when light is incident
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on a p-n junction
Solar cell working principle

Semiconductor materials have bands where electrons are located and gaps in between where they are not.
The highest energy band where electrons are located is the valence band (VB) and the lowest lying
unoccupied band is the conduction band (CB). The gap in between these is called the band gap (Eg) where
there are no energy states. When a photon of with sufficient energy (larger than Eg) is absorbed, the energy
is transferred to an electron in the VB and it is promoted to a higher energy state in the CB, leaving behind
a positively charged vacancy (hole) in the VB. The electron-hole pairs are separated and move in opposite
directions until they are collected and the resulting current can be extracted to an external circuit to
perform work.
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Solar cell characteristics

If electrical contacts are added to a p-n junction and a voltage V is applied, the device exhibits rectifying behaviour and
the current passing through the device can be described by the ideal diode equation:
I = I0 [exp(qV / kT) -1]
Where I0 is the reverse saturation current, k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the temperature
A solar cell is effectively an unbiased diode that is exposed to light. The injection of minority carriers due to absorption
of photons adds to the drift current and this can be incorporated into the diode equation as an illumination current IL.
Thus I-V characteristics of a solar cell is given by I = I0 [exp(qV / kT) -1] IL
Fill factor, f = VpIp/VocIsc

Energy conversion efficiency K = fVocIsc/Pi , where Pi is the incident light power
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Solar cell performance parameters
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Quantum Efficiency
The "quantum efficiency" is the ratio of the number of carriers collected by the solar cell to the number of photons of a given
energy incident on the solar cell. The quantum efficiency may be given either as a function of wavelength or as energy. If all
photons of a certain wavelength are absorbed and the resulting minority carriers are collected, then the quantum efficiency at
that particular wavelength is unity. The quantum efficiency for photons with energy below the band gap is zero. A quantum
efficiency curve for an ideal solar cell is shown below.
The "external" quantum efficiency (EQE) of a silicon solar cell (above) includes the effect of optical losses such as transmission
and reflection. However, it is often useful to look at the quantum efficiency of the light left after the reflected and transmitted
light has been lost. "Internal" quantum efficiency refers to the efficiency with which photons that are not reflected or
28
transmitted out of the cell can generate collectable carriers.
Solar cell requirements
Two major factors at play Absorption of light and Recombination of minority carriers
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Absorption of light
Photons incident on the surface of a semiconductor will be either reflected from the top surface, will be absorbed in the
material or, failing either of the above two processes, will be transmitted through the material. For photovoltaic devices,
reflection and transmission are typically considered loss mechanisms as photons which are not absorbed do not generate
power. If the photon is absorbed it has the possibility of exciting an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. A
key factor in determining if a photon is absorbed or transmitted is the energy of the photon (Eph). Therefore, only if the photon
has enough energy will the electron be excited into the conduction band from the valence band. Photons falling onto a
semiconductor material can be divided into three groups based on their energy compared to that of the semiconductor band
gap:
Eph < Eg : Photons with energy Eph less than the band gap energy EG interact only weakly with the
semiconductor, passing through it as if it were transparent.
Eph = Eg : Photons have just enough energy to create an electron hole pair and are efficiently absorbed.
Eph > Eg : Photons with energy much greater than the band gap are strongly absorbed. However, for
photovoltaic applications, the photon energy greater than the band gap is wasted as electrons quickly
thermalize back down to the conduction band edges.
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Absorption coefficient
The absorption coefficient, D, determines how far into a material light of a particular wavelength can penetrate before it is
absorbed. In a material with a low absorption coefficient, light is only poorly absorbed, and if the material is thin enough, it will
appear transparent to that wavelength. The absorption coefficient depends on the material and also on the wavelength of light
which is being absorbed. Semiconductor materials have a sharp edge in their absorption coefficient, since light which has
energy below the band gap does not have sufficient energy to excite an electron into the conduction band from the valence
band. Consequently this light is not absorbed. The absorption coefficient for several semiconductor materials is shown below.
(T = 300 K)
For photons which have an energy very close to that of the band gap, the absorption is relatively low since only those electrons
directly at the valence band edge can interact with the photon to cause absorption. As the photon energy increases, a larger
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number of electrons can interact with the photon and result in the photon being absorbed.
Absorption depth and generation

The absorption depth is given by the inverse of the absorption coefficient, and describes how deeply light penetrates into a
semiconductor before being absorbed. (D
Higher energy light is of a shorter wavelength and has a shorter absorption depth than lower energy light, which is not as
readily absorbed, and has a greater absorption depth.
Absorption depth affects aspects of solar cell design, such as the thickness of the semiconductor material.
Light intensity at any point in the device e-Dx (x is distance into the material)
The absorption depth is a useful parameter which gives the distance into the material at which the light drops to about 36%
of its original intensity, or alternately has dropped by a factor of 1/e. Since high energy light (short wavelength), such as blue
light, has a large absorption coefficient, it is absorbed in a short distance (for silicon solar cells within a few microns) of the
surface, while red light (lower energy, longer wavelength) is absorbed less strongly. Even after a few hundred microns, not all
red light is absorbed in silicon.
The generation rate gives the number of electrons generated at each point in the device due to the absorption of photons.
Generation is an important parameter in solar cell operation given by
O nm
D cm-1
Because the light used in photovoltaic applications contains many
different wavelengths, many different generation rates must be taken
into account when designing a solar cell.
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Bulk recombination
Any electron which exists in the conduction band is in a meta-stable state and will eventually stabilize to a lower energy
position in the valence band. When this occurs, it must move into an empty valence band state. Therefore, when the electron
stabilizes back down into the valence band, it also effectively removes a hole. This process is called recombination. There are
three basic types of recombination in the bulk of a single-crystal semiconductor.
Radiative recombination: An electron from the conduction band directly combines with a hole in the valence band and
releases a photon. The emitted photon has an energy similar to the band gap and is therefore only weakly absorbed such
that it can exit the piece of semiconductor. This recombination mechanism dominates in direct bandgap semiconductors. In
radiative recombination.
Shockley-Read-Hall or SRH recombination involves recombination through defects in the crystal lattice. These defects can
either be unintentionally introduced or deliberately added to the material, for example in doping the material.
Auger Recombination involves three carriers. An electron and a hole recombine, but rather than emitting the energy as
heat or as a photon, the energy is given to a third carrier, an electron in the conduction band. This electron then
thermalizes back down to the conduction band edge. This recombination mechanism is most important at high carrier
concentrations caused by heavy doping.
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Minority carrier lifetime and diffusion length

The lifetime of minority carriers generated by incident light in a semiconductor is contingent upon the recombination rate R,
which is dependent upon the concentration of minority carriers. The lifetime of the material takes into account the different
types of recombination. Lifetime is an indicator of the efficiency of a solar cell, and thus is a key consideration in choosing
materials for solar cells.
where is the minority carrier lifetime, n is the excess minority carriers concentration and R
is the recombination rate.
Diffusion length is the average length a carrier moves between generation and recombination. Semiconductor materials that
are heavily doped have greater recombination rates and consequently, have shorter diffusion lengths. Higher diffusion lengths
are indicative of materials with longer lifetimes, and is therefore an important quality to consider with semiconductor
materials.
where L is the diffusion length in meters, D is the diffusivity in m/s and is the lifetime in
seconds.
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Surface recombination
Areas of defect, such as at the surface of solar cells where the lattice is disrupted, recombination is very high.
Surface recombination is high in solar cells, but can be limited.
Understanding the impacts and the ways to limit surface recombination leads to better and more robust solar cell
designs.
The defects at a semiconductor surface are caused by the interruption to the periodicity of the crystal lattice, which causes
dangling bonds at the semiconductor surface. The reduction of the number of dangling bonds, and hence surface
recombination, is achieved by growing a layer on top of the semiconductor surface which ties up some of these dangling
bonds. This reduction of dangling bonds is known as surface passivation.
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Collection probablility
The "collection probability" describes the probability that a carrier generated by light absorption in a certain region of the
device will be collected by the p-n junction and therefore contribute to the light-generated current, but probability depends on
the distance that a light-generated carrier must travel compared to the diffusion length. Collection probability also depends on
the surface properties of the device. The collection probability of carriers generated in the depletion region is unity as the
electron-hole pair are quickly swept apart by the electric field and are collected. Away from the junction, the collection
probability drops. If the carrier is generated more than a diffusion length away from the junction, then the collection probability
of this carrier is quite low. Similarly, if the carrier is generated closer to a region such as a surface with higher recombination
than the junction, then the carrier will recombine. The impact of surface passivation and diffusion length on collection
probability is illustrated below.
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Nanostructuring as a solution?
LA absorption thickness
LC charge transport thickness
(May not need to be perfectly

ordered)
End of Lecture 2
37

Efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cells
Losses in PV cells
Overview of PV Materials and Technologies
38
Shockley-Quesisser Limit
ShockleyQueisser limit or detailed balance limit refers to the calculation of the maximum theoretical efficiency of a solar cell
made from a single pn junction. It was first calculated by William Shockley and Hans Queisser:
William Shockley and Hans J. Queisser, "Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p-n Junction Solar Cells", Journal of Applied
Physics, Volume 32, pp. 510-519 (1961).
The ShockleyQueisser limit is calculated by examining the amount of electrical energy that is extracted per incident photon.
The calculation places maximum solar conversion efficiency around 33.7% assuming a single p-n junction with a band gap of
1.4 eV (under one sun). Therefore, an ideal solar cell with incident solar radiation will generate 337 Wm-2. When the solar
radiation is modelled as 6000 K blackbody radiation the maximum efficiency occurs when the bandgap energy Eg=1.4 eV.
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Shockley-Quesisser Limit
Basic Assumptions
1. One semiconductor material (excluding doping materials) per solar cell.
2. One p-n junction per solar cell.
3. The sunlight is not concentrated - a "one sun" source.
4. All energy is converted to heat from photons greater than the band gap.
In order to overcome the S-Q limit, one must work around one or more of the critical assumptions listed above, i.e.
1. Use more than one semiconductor material in a cell.
2. Use more than one junction in a cell - "multijunction cells".
3. Concentrate the sunlight using concentrators
4. Combine a PV semiconductor with a heat based technology to harvest both forms of energy
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Efficiency losses
41
Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 17, 320 (2009).
Electrical losses
I
IL
Equivalent circuit for nonideal solar cell
(n is the nonideality factor, between 1 and 2)
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Electrical losses
Bulk recombination: caused by defects within the semiconductor e.g. structural and intrinsic defects, extrinsic defects due to presence of
impurity atoms. Source materials must be high-purity. For multicrystalline semiconductors, grain boundaries represent a significant
source of recombination.
Biggest trade-off in a solar cell is the decision over thickness. Carrier collection is best for thin devices but photon collection is best
for thick devices.
Surface recombination: caused due to defect chemistry at the surface and concentration of free carriers at surface. Efforts to reduce this
effect include addition of a thin passivating material such as SiO2 to saturate dangling bonds and reduce surface defect density, fieldeffect passivation and creation of back-surface field.
Non-ideal diode behaviour: caused by non-uniform acceptor and donor impurity profiles, thickness variations.
Series resistance: arises due to the resistance of the bulk semiconductor material and contact resistances, and should be as small as
possible.
Parallel resistance: caused by pin-holes that break through thin film p-n junctions, conductive paths that can be formed through grain
boundaries, problems at the edges of devices. Should be as high as possible.
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Minimising surface recombination
Surface passivation: reduce dangling bonds

Field-effect passivation: Since the passivating layer for silicon solar cells is usually an insulator, any region which has an
ohmic metal contact cannot be passivated using silicon dioxide. Instead, under the top contacts the effect of the surface
recombination can be minimised by increasing the doping.
Back-surface field: Higher doped region at the rear surface of the solar cell. The interface between the high and low
doped region behaves like a p-n junction and an electric field forms at the interface which introduces a barrier to
minority carrier flow to the rear surface. The minority carrier concentration is thus maintained at higher levels in the
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bulk of the device and the back-surface field has a net effect of passivating the rear surface.
Optical losses
Any process that leads to photon loss will lead to a decrease in the current that can be generated by a solar cell.
Surface Reflection: Reflection from both top and rear surface of the cell leads to optical losses. Anti-reflection coatings
or surface texturing help to mitigate this problem.
Top contact shading: Metals reflect light and shadow underlying device. Use of transparent conducting oxides (e.g.
indium tin oxide) or thin metals reduces shading at the expense of increasing RS.
Incomplete absorption: Amount of light absorbed depends on amount of material, and hence thickness. Material cost of
thick cells are higher plus the quality of the materials must be ensured. Light-trapping schemes for cheaper thin-film
designs are required to increase effective optical path length.
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Optical losses
Top surface reflectance: The semiconductor surface itself will reflect a component of light depending on the refractive
index of the semiconductor, the angle of incidence and the wavelength, thereby resulting in reduction in the short-circuit
current. Thus antireflection schemes have to be employed to reduce reflectance. (Bare Si has a high surface relflectance
of over 30%)
Antireflection techniques include:
Thin film coatings Destructive interference between light reflected from the interfaces created by adding one or
more thin films to a surface minimizes reflectance at certain wavelengths. The refractive index and thicknesses of the
layers must be carefully chosen for optimum reflection reduction over the required wavelength range.
Micron-scale texturing - Texturing with featured of dimensions above the wavelength of incident light reduces overall
reflectance by forcing the light to undergo multiple reflections from the inclined walls of the features, with a portion
of this light being coupled into the substrate at each reflection
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Anti-reflection coating
Anti-reflection coating consist of a thin layer of dielectric material, with a

specially chosen thickness so that interference effects in the coating
cause the wave reflected from the anti-reflection coating top surface to
be out of phase with the wave reflected from the semiconductor
surfaces. These out-of-phase reflected waves destructively interfere with
one another, resulting in zero net reflected energy.
For a quarter wavelength anti-reflection coating of a transparent
material with a refractive index n1 and light incident on the coating with a
wavelength 0, the thickness d1 which causes minimum reflection is
calculated by:
d1 = O0/4n1
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Texturing
Subwavelength-scale texturing - Reflections occur at an interface between two materials because of a sudden
change in refractive index. By texturing on the sub-wavelength scale at the interface, a more gradual change in
refractive index can be introduced and so such reflections can be significantly reduced. The interface is effectively
blurred resulting in a low reflectance for a broad range of wavelengths.
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Light-trapping schemes
Planar reflector on the back

of the device
Texturing with geometric features on front and back of the device
Light trapping using a randomised reflector on the rear of the cell.

Light less than the critical angle escapes the cell but light greater
than the critical angle is totally internally reflected inside the cell. In
actual devices, the front surface is also textured using schemes
such as the random pyramids mentioned earlier.
49
Module losses
Losses result when a solar cell is encapsulated into a module. Reflectance and absorption losses in encapsulant materials
are low as they tend to have low refractive indices and are chosen for their transparency, e.g. glass.
Arrangement of single crystal silicon solar cells that are generally made from circular wafers gives rise to loss of efficiency
due to sub-optimal use of the surface region of the PV module. Cleaving or sawing to make square or hexagonal wafers is
expensive and wasteful.
Series configuration of individual cells connected to form a module introduces losses. Although voltage is increased, the
current is limited by the worst-performing cell in the array.
Careful placement of module is necessary to ensure all cells receive the same level of irradiance, for e.g. partial shading
must be avoided.
Encapsulation affects heat dissipation, raising the operating temperature and reducing the open-circuit voltage. Severe
overheating can cause cracks due to thermal expansion.
50
Materials and technologies

Currently, crystalline Si makes up 90% of the market share of PV cells
C-Si solar cells High Price of Low Carbon?
51

There exists a large diversity of PV devices already in commercial production and many more being developed in labs.
Currently, most commercial PV devices are based on single crystal silcon (C-Si) having 14 17% efficiency. The cost of Si
wafer preparation accounts for almost half the total cost of a C-Si-based PV module expensive! Multicrystalline silicon
(mC-Si) is a cheaper alternative that can produce useful but less efficient PV cells (10 14% efficiency).
Textured AR surface
Metal top contact
Metal back contact
Schematic of a typical C-Si device (mC-Si devices use wavelength AR coatings)

52

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) is a disordered network on silicon and hydrogen atoms. Effective Eg ~ 1.7 eV, so it
cannot absorb photons with wavelength > 700 nm. But absorption of short-wavelength light in a-Si:H is good, hence it is
suitable for indoor applications.
Staeblar-Wronski (SW) effect refers to the degradation of photocurrent in a-Si:H with exposure to light and is a serious
limitation as cells can lose as much as 10% of their initial efficiency after a few months of use. Original photocurrent
restorable with an anneal of 1500C. SW effect attributed to breaking of SiSi or Si-H bbonds within the random amorphous
network leading to increase in midgap defect density and hence recombination current.
Can be deposited onto flexible polymer substrated due to low deposition temperatures. Efficiency in the range 8 10%.
Devices typically used in pocket calculators have efficiency ~ 5%. Low cost and flexibility of a-Si:H makes it viable for lowpower indoor applications
pin design
53

Multijunction (MJ) devices consist of multiple p-n junctions having multiple bandgaps, each producing a current in
response to a different wavelength of light, thus increasing overall conversion efficiency. Each subdevice must be currentmatched, thus thickness of each layer must be carefully optimised.
MJ Si cell Efficiency of up to 16 %
Triple-junction GaInP/GaS/Ge device

(Eg ~ 1.4 2.2 eV)
Efficiency of up to 32 % using concentrator
cells. Very expensive technology.
Key consideration current matching!!
54

Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) has a direct bandgap of 1.45 eV and forms a good heterojunction with CdS (Eg =2.4 eV) High
efficiency (10 16%) and low cost (< $1/W) makes CdTe technology a strong contender as the leading PV technology
poised to displace C-Si and mC-Si technology. ButToxicity of Cd? Availability of Te?
CuInSe2 (CIS), has the highest absorption coefficient across the broadest spectral range. Slightly less than optimum Eg of
1.04 eV can be increased by the addition of gallium to form CuIn1-xGaxSe2 (CIGS). CIGS lab cells have the highest efficiency
record of 19.4%. Disadvantage poor scalability, low yield and high production cost.
55
Traditional Photovoltaic Materials
56

Emergent technologies
Dye Sensitized Solar cells (DSSC) are bulk heterojunction devices fomed by complete intermixing of the two materials
that form the anode (n-type) and cathode (p-type). The anode is typically formed by nanospheres of TiO2
photosensitized by dye, and the cathode is a liquid/solid electrolyte that completely surrounds the anode.
Absorption of light creates excited state in dye which injects an electron into the conduction band of TiO2. Electrons diffuse
through successive nanospheres till they reach the top contact. In order to maintain neutrality, the dye molecule takes an
electron from the electrolyte, forming a positively carged ion that diffuses through the electrolyte to the cathode.
Very efficient system limited by inability to absorb red and infrared photons. DSSC devices are cheap, can be manufactured
57
by printing technologies rather than expensive semiconductor technologies.

Inoganic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells: use 3D junctions instead of planar junctions. Advanced designs include coreshell nanowire structures, involving self-organized p-type nanowires surrounded by n-type layer creating an array of coreshell nanodevices that each for classic single crystal solar cells.
These devices are in early stages of development and have relatively low efficiency. But these nanodevices can act as
standalone energy harvesting units, possibly to power single CMOS gates.
BHJ Polymer/plastic solar cells: light generates excitons with subsequent separation of charges in the interface between
an electron donor and acceptor blend within the devices active layer. Regions of each material in the device are
separated by only several nanometers, a distance suited for carrier diffusion. BHJs require sensitive control over
materials morphology on the nanoscale. A number of variables, are important including choice of materials, solvents,
and the donor-acceptor weight ratio. (For e.g. poly-3-hexyl thiophene (P3HT), phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester
(PCBM) are used to form P3HT:PCBM solar cells)
58
End of Lecture 3

Evolution of PV materials and technologies
Recent advances
Future trends
59
First-generation solar cells
60
Second-generation solar cells
61
Third-generation solar cells
Eex exciton energy,

IPD - ionization potential
EAa electron affinity
62
Organic Photovoltaics
63
Organic Photovoltaics
Device Working Principle from Light Absorption to Charge Collection

64
Excitons
When incident photons hit electrons at the ground state, inorganic semiconductors generate free carriers. However, in organic
semiconductors, excited electrons slightly relax (due to lower Coulomb screening) and then form an exciton, a bounded
electron and hole pair.
To make an efficient organic photovoltaic cell, effective dissociation of excitons is a key issue because the binding energy of
the exciton is large.
Solution?
65
Dye-sensitized solar cells
66
Dye-sensitized solar cells
67
Bulk-heterojunction solar cells
68
Bulk-heterojunction solar cells
69
Nanoparticle hybrids
70
Nanoparticle hybrid solar cells
71
Quantum dot solar cells - basics
72
Quantum dot solar cells - basics
73
Quantum dot solar cells
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 117 (2013) 329 335
74
Perovskite solar cells
NATURE MATERIALS | VOL 13 | SEPTEMBER 2014 |
Methylammonium lead iodide, CH3NH3PbI3
semiconducting pigment with a direct bandgap of 1.55 eV

corresponding to an absorption onset of 800 nm which makes this
material a good light absorber over the whole visible solar emission
spectrum.
The excitons produced by light absorption have a weak binding energy

of about 0.03 eV, which means that most of them dissociate very rapidly
into free carriers at room temperature.
The electrons and holes produced in this material exhibit a small

effective massresulting in high carrier mobilities.
Their recombination occurs on a timescale of hundreds of nanoseconds,
resulting in long carrier-diffusion lengths that is, the average distance
that can be covered by carriers before they recombine ranging
between 100 nm and 1,000 nm
75

The extraordinary potential of hybrid perovskites in photovoltaic applications was only revealed less than 5 years ago by
researchers working on liquid electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC)!
Reports on the use of tin or lead iodide perovskites in a solid-state version of the DSSC, set off the current meteoric rise of
perovskite solar cells (PSCs).
Burschka, J. et al. Nature 499, 316319 (2013).
76

Evolution from a mesoscopic to a planar embodiment of the perovskite
solar cell.
Problems:
Toxicity!
Pb-compounds are harmful to the environment
Stability?
CH3NH3PbI3 degrades in humid conditions
and forms PbI2 at higher temperatures due
to the loss of CH3NH3I. These instabilities
could hamper outdoor applications.
End of Lecture 4
77

Mechanical Energy Harvesting (Part 1)
Inertial generator model
Electrostatic generators
Electromagnetic generators
Piezoelectric generators (Introduction)
78

We will discuss the three main transduction mechanisms that are employed to extract mechanical energy from ambient
environments and translate this into electrical energy, namely electrostatic, electromagnetic and piezoelectric transduction.
Kinetic energy is ubiquitously present in the environment. Useful vibration levels are found in many commonly used
appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, moving structures such as automobiles and airplanes, and civil
structures such as buildings and bridges. Human movements are mainly characterized by low-frequency, high amplitude
displacements.
Example of typical frequency spectrum of mains powered air compressor
79
Mechanical energy harvesting energy flow
Losses can be incurred, not just within the energy harvesting transducer, but at all stages in this process. The
effectiveness of the transducer is not the only factor - performance can be dominated by losses in the transfer of
energy across these system boundaries.
Commonly used transduction mechanisms: electrostatic, electromagnetic and piezoelectric
Recent advance: Triboelectric transduction mechanism
80
Mechanical energy harvesting simplified model

A simplified linear model based on an inertial generator can be used to estimate the behaviour and output power of
a resonant mechanical harvester [Williams & Yates, Sensors and Actuators A 52, 8 (1996)]. An inertial generator can
be attached to any moving body to generate electricity.
Consider a rigid box subjected to the environments vibrations y(t), with a mass m suspended by a spring k. The
relative displacement of mass m with respect to its equilibrium position is represented by z(t) and its natural angular
frequency Zn = (k/m)1/2. Part of the kinetic energy is lost in mechanical damping and the rest is converted to
electricity which is modelled as an electrical damping. Together they are represented by the damping coefficient, cT.
The external excitation is given by y(t) = Ysin(Zt). Assuming the mass of the vibrating source >> m, the differential
equation of motion is described as:
81
Mechanical energy harvesting Inertial generator

[Williams & Yates, Sensors and Actuators A 52, 8 (1996)]
The steady-state solution is given by:

, where
The maximum energy is extracted when the excitation frequency equals the natural frequency,
Power dissipated due to transduction and parasitic damping,
Therefore, maximum power generated is given by
82
Mechanical energy harvesting Inertial generator

Substituting for excitation acceleration level, A = Zn2Y,
The value of maximum power is indeed finite, as reduction of the damping factor results in increased mass displacement
which is ultimately limited by the size and geometry of the device.
The maximum power that can be extracted by the transduction mechanism can be predicted by accounting for the
parasitic and transducer damping ratios and is given by:
Pe is maximized when parasitic damping equals transducer damping, ]p = ]e. Varying the level of damping provides a
handle on bandwidth response of the generator, which may be useful in practical situations where frequency variations
are common. Pe is proportional to mass, which should therefore be maximised subject to design constraints. For fixed A,
Pe is inversely proportional to Zn, hence it is preferable to operate at the lowest fundamental frequency within the
available vibration spectra. When a generator is coupled to an electrical circuit, losses on the circuit will limit the amount
of useful electrical energy.
83
Electromagnetic transduction
Electromagnetic generators are based on Faradays law of electromagnetic induction. When an electric conductor is
moved through a magnetic field, a potential difference, or electromotive force (emf), is induced between the ends of the
conductor. The voltage induced in the conductor (V) is proportional to the time rate of change of the magnetic flux
linkage () of that circuit:
In practice, the conductor is in the form of a coil of length l having N turns, and the magnetic field B is created by
permanent magnets.
Damping coefficient arising from electromagnetic transduction,
Where, Rload, Rcoil and Lcoil are the load resistance, coil resistance and coil inductance respectively. Thus Rload can be used
84
to adjust ce to match cp and therefore maximise power.
Electromagnetic generators - microscale implementation

Microscale electromagnetic generators are fabricated with planar microcoils and deposited magnetic films. Both of these
are inferior to their conventional macroscale counterparts.
While macroscale, high performance bulk magnets, and multi-turn and macroscale coils are readily available, there
remain challenges for fabrication of MEMS scale systems due to the poor properties of planar magnets. The number of
turns that can be achieved with planar coils are limited the assembly and alignment of wafer-scale (sub-millimeter)
electromagnetic systems remain a challenge for implementation to MEMS devices.
85
Novel electromagnetic generator devices
86
These types of generators consist of a variable capacitor whose two plates are electrically isolated from each other by air, a
vacuum, or an insulator. External mechanical vibrations cause the gap between the plates to vary and hence the capacitance
changes. In order to extract energy, the plates must be charged and the mechanical vibrations work against the electrostatic
forces present in the device.
Capacitor Basics:
The capacitance of a capacitor is given by: C = Q/V, where Q is the charge and V is the voltage
It can also be expressed as C = HA/d,
where H is the dielectric permittivity of the materials between the plates, A is the area of the plates and d is the separation
between the plates.
The stored energy is given by E = 0.5QV = 0.5CV2 = 0.5Q2 C
Voltage-
and
charge- constrained generators:
Energy gain:
87
Perpendicular force between plates:
Electrostatic generators can be classified into three configurations:
Note x here refers to the inertial mass displacement!
Electrical damping coefficient for gap-varying and overlap-varying cases

(Coulomb damping): Note z here refers to the inertial mass displacement
Ng is number of gaps, l is finger length, t is device thickness.
88
Novel electrostatic generator devices
Electrostatic generators are well-suited for MEMS devices but the main drawback is the need for input charge/voltage.
Other problems include high output impedance and voltage, requirement of additional circuitry for signal processing,
parasitic capacitances leading to reduced efficiencies and electrode shorting in wafer-scale applications.
89
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

Generating electrical energy from material strain.
Vibrations cause strain in piezoelectric material
Current generated from change in electric displacement
Current extracted to power devices
90
Piezoelectric Materials
91
92
93
Piezoelectricity relates to the electric displacement D (surface charge per unit area) induced in a material by an applied stress
T. In three dimensions, stress is described by two vectors, applied force Fi and the normal to the area upon which the force
acts Aj. Stress, F/A, is thus a second rank tensor Tij whose diagonal elements represent normal stress and off-diagonal
elements represent shear stress. Electric displacement and electric field are vectors Di and Ej respectively, and the permittivity,
Hij=D/E, is represented by a second rank tensor. Taking T and E as independent variables, D is specified by
where d is the piezoelectric constant of the material and is represented by a third rank tensor. Strain S is a second rank tensor
specified by
where dt is the transpose of d, and s is elastic compliance. The above equations are the piezoelectric constitutive equations.
94
Piezoelectric Generator
95
Piezoelectric constants
Piezoelectric constants in typical energy-harvesting modes:
Piezoelectric damping coefficient,

96
Piezoelectric materials
Energy harvesting performance is directly related to the piezoelectric coefficients, but the applied stress or strain is also an
important factor. This is why the coupling between the mechanical source and the piezoelectric material is a critical factor in
determining the energy harvesting performance. The energy output also depends on the ability of the piezoelectric material
to sustain an applied force or to repeatedly undergo a recoverable strain.
End of Lecture 5
97

Piezoelectric generators (Continued)
Ceramics versus polymers
Nano-piezoelectric generators
98
Piezoelectric generator
The domains in a ceramic element are aligned by exposing the element to a strong, DC electric field, usually at a temperature
slightly below the Curie temperature. This is referred to as the poling process. After the poling treatment, domains most
nearly aligned with the electric field expand at the expense of domains that are not aligned with the field,
and the element expands in the direction of the field. When the electric field is removed most of the dipoles are locked into
a configuration of near alignment
99
Piezoelectric vibration harvesters exploit piezoelectric properties of materials. In certain cases, the strain in the piezoelectric
material is created by the inertia of a suspended mass undergoing acceleration, rather than being directly deformed by the
source. There are many ways of achieving this coupling, but perhaps one of the most common is the piezoelectric cantilever
The cantilever is clamped at one end (the root) to the vibration source. A mass is fixed to the other end. When the base
accelerates, the inertia of the tip mass bends the cantilever. Simple bending a piezoelectric element creates equal and
opposite strains on the inside and outside of the bend. These cancel, so no net current is generated. To be effective as a
generator it is necessary to move the piezoelectric layer away from the neutral axis. This is usually accomplished either by
fixing the piezoelectric material to a non-piezoelectric elastic layer, or by joining two piezoelectric layers poled in opposite
directions. These are referred to as unimorph of bimorph configurations as shown in the figure above.
100
Piezoelectric structures
101
Novel piezoelectric generator devices
102
Practical considerations
Piezoelectric generators are usually operated at or close to resonance, where the amplitude of the oscillation is only limited
by the losses from the mechanical system resulting from the energy harvested as well as internal and external losses due to
friction, internal electrical losses and air damping. This means that the most effective energy harvester does not necessarily
employ the material with the highest piezoelectric coefficients.
For example, lead zirconium titanate (PZT) is obtainable in a range of compositions from hard materials which have low
losses but small piezoelectric coupling, through to soft materials with much higher piezoelectric coupling, but also much
higher losses. In some cases, hard materials with much smaller piezoelectric coefficients can produce larger power output
than soft materials. However, this depends on the magnitude of the electrical power harvested compared to other sources of
loss i.e. the efficiency, and for many systems non-harvested losses dominate.
The maximum oscillation amplitude in a resonant device is determined by the losses.

An efficient device could produce very large amplitude oscillations resulting in damage
to the device. This means that a practical constraint of the power output of a resonant
energy harvester may well be determined by material strength and reliability
103
considerations rather than piezoelectric coefficients.
Piezoelectric ceramics vs. polymers
Crossley, Whiter & Kar-Narayan, Materials Science and Technology 2014 VOL 30 NO 13a 1615
104
Piezoelectric Polymers
- Flexible and light
- Ease of fabrication
- Cost-effective
- Lead free
Poly-vinlyidene fluoride (PVDF)
Polyamides (nylons)
105
Piezoelectric Polymers
The ferroelectric phase of PVDF
D
poling
stretching
annealing
annealing
poling
J
poling
The ferroelectric phase can be stabilised by addition of TrFE

P(VDF-TrFE)
106
Effect of geometry
C. Chang et al, Direct-write piezoelectric polymeric nanogenerator with high energy conversion
efficiency," Nano Letters, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 726-731, 2010.
Piezoelectric nanogenerators (NGs) -Background

ZnO nanogenerators Wang et. al , Science 2006
108
NG based on ZnO arrays
Adv. Mater. 2012, 24, 110114

Performance degrades on exposure to air.
Surface passivation required
109
NG based on PZT nanowire arrays
Epitaxially grown PZT nanowires on Nb-doped STO by hydrothermal decomposition, high

annealing temperature
Xu et. al, Nat. Communications 2010
110
NG based on BaTiO3 nanowire arrays
The BaTiO3 nanowire arrays were grown on Ti substrate using a two-step hydrothermal synthesis method.
Adv. Energy Mater. 2014, 4, 1301660
111
Polymer nanogenerators
Flexible
Robust
Cheap
Easy to fabricate
Lead-free
Biocompatible
Acoustic impedance matching
Low piezoelectric constant
Crossley, Whiter & Kar-Narayan, Materials Science and Technology 2014 VOL 30 NO 13a 1615
Polymers versus Ceramics?
112
113
Electrospinning
> 10 kV
Applied Physics Letters 93 (2008) 123111.
When a sufficiently high voltage is applied to a liquid droplet, the body of the liquid
becomes charged, and electrostatic repulsion counteracts the surface tension and the
droplet is stretched; at a critical point a stream of liquid erupts from the surface.
Electrospinning
Electrospinning is a relatively complex fabrication process
requiring high voltages (550 kV) and specialized equipment.
The associated high electric fields and stretching forces result
in poled nanowires, however this fabrication process often
suffers from poor control over nanowire size-distribution and
alignment, and is yet to be conveniently and cost-effectively
scaled up.
Nano Letters 3 (2003) 11671171.

115
Template Wetting
Simple
Scalable
Versatile
Can form nanotubes or nanowires
Can change dimensions with different
templates
After forming nanowires inside template:
Can coat template surfaces in metal

to make simple devices
Can dissolve template to release

nanowires into solution
Template-grown P(VDF-TrFE) Nanowires
117
R. Whiter, V. Narayan & S. Kar-Narayan, Advanced Energy Materials (2014)
Energy harvesting experiments
118
Lighting an LED with a polymer nanogenerator
R. Whiter, V. Narayan & S. Kar-Narayan, Advanced Energy Materials (2014)
End of Lecture 6
119

Triboelectric Generators
Operating configurations
Outlook
120
Triboelectric generator
The triboelectric effect describes a contact-induced electrification in which a material becomes electrically charged after it
is contacted with a different material through friction.
Tribolelectric generator - a device that converts mechanical energy into electricity using the coupling effects between
triboelectrification and electrostatic induction through the contact separation or relative sliding between two materials
that have opposite tribo-polarity.
Triboelectric generators represent a novel mechanical energy

harvesting mechanism and were first demonstrated by ZL
Wangs group in Georgia Tech in 2012. The field has since
witnessed tremendous growth.
Z.L.Wang, ACSNano 2013
121
Fundamentals of Tribolelectrification
The triboelectric effect is a contact-induced electrification in which a material becomes electrically charged after it
is contacted with a different material through friction. As an example, triboelectric effect is a general cause of
commonly experienced static charging. The sign of the charges to be carried by a material depends on its relative
polarity in comparison to the material to which it will contact.
While the effect has been known for many centuries, the mechanism behind tribolelectrification is still not entirely
clear. It is generally believed that, after two different materials come into contact, a chemical bond is formed
between some parts of the two surfaces, called adhesion, and charges move from one material to the other to
equalize their electrochemical potential. The transferred charges can be electrons or may be ions/molecules.
When separated, some of the bonded atoms have a tendency to keep extra electrons and some a tendency to give
them away, possibly producing triboelectric charges on surfaces.
Materials that usually have strong triboelectrification effect are more likely to be insulators, thus enabling them to
capture the transferred charges and retain them for an extended period of time. The build-up of electrostatic
charges are usually considered to be a negative effect in our daily life and technology developments.
122
Choice of materials
Z.L.Wang, ACSNano 2013
Triboelectric Series for some common materials following a tendency to easily lose electrons (Positive) and to gain Electrons
123
(Negative)
Traditional triboelectric generators
Wimhurst machine (1929)
Van de Graaf generator (1880)
Both machines use the accumulated static charges generated by

triboelectrification; the tribo-charges are transferred from a rotating
belt to a metal brush by the corona discharging (e.g., the electricfield-induced arcing of air); once the accumulated charge density
reaches a critical value, discharging over two opposite electrodes
124
Occurs.
Operating principle of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)
Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 49604965.
Vertical Contact-Separation Mode-Based TENG: Dielectric-to-Dielectric Case
125
Operating principle of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)

The operating principle of the TENG for the case of dielectric-to-dielectric in contact mode can be described by the
coupling of contact charging and electrostatic induction.
If we define electric potential of the bottom electrode (UBE) to be zero, electric potential of the top electrode (UTE) can be
calculated by
where is the triboelectric charge density, 0 is the vacuum permittivity, and d0 is the interlayer distance at a given state.
The net effect is that induced charges accumulate with positive sign on the top electrode and negative sign on the bottom
electrode (see figure on previous slide). The induced charge density (0) when the generator is fully released is given by:
where rk and rp are the relative permittivity of Kapton and PMMA, respectively, and d1 and d2 are the thicknesses of the
Kapton film and the PMMA layer. The maximum value of max is obtained by substituting d3 for d in the equation above.
126
TENG performance
Nano Energy 2013, 2, 491497
127
TENG configurations
If is the charge density of the PTFE surface,
1 is the charge density of the Cu surface that
is contacted with PTFE, and 2 is charge
density of the Ag upper surface, then
Nano Energy 2013, 2, 491497
Vertical Contact-Separation Mode-Based TENG: Metal-to-Dielectric Case
where d1 and rp are the thickness and

permittivity of PTFE, respectively, and charge
Q is stable for a relatively long time on the
PTFE surface; thus 1 is dictated by the gap
distance d2. The working mechanism of the
TENG is similar to a variable-capacitance
generator except that the charges are selfgenerated triboelectric charges rather than
an external power source.
128
Effect of nanostructuring
Micro- or nanopatterns can be
generated on surfaces to enhance the
contact area and the effectiveness of
the triboelectrification
Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 63396346.
129
TENG configurations
There are two basic friction processes: normal contact
and lateral sliding. A periodic change in the contact
area between two surfaces leads to a lateral separation
of the charge centers, which creates a voltage drop for
driving the flow of electrons in the external load
Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 22262233.
Lateral Sliding-Mode-Based TENG: Dielectric-on- Dielectric Case

130
TENG configurations
Linear gratings with uniform period are fabricated on
both sliding surfaces. The rows of grating units have
the same size as the intervals in between, with all
rows being electrically connected at both ends by two
buses. The grating patterns on both sliding surfaces
are identical so that they can match well with each
other when aligned. Although the grating design
reduces the total contact area by half, thus seemingly
sacrificing half of the triboelectric charges, it increases
the percentage of the mismatched area to 100% for a
displacement of only a grating unit length rather than
the entire length of the TENG so that it dramatically
increases the transport efficiency of the induced
charges.
Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 22822289.
131
Lateral Sliding-Mode-Based TENG: Metal -on- Dielectric Case
TENG configurations
The working principle of the disk TENG is based on the
triboelectrification and the relative-rotation induced cyclic inplane charge separation between Al and Kapton.
In the relative rotation, the Al surface and Kapton surface slide
relative to each other, so that the electrons will be injected
from the Al foil to the inner surface of the Kapton film, leaving
net positive charges on the Al foil and net negative charges on
the Kapton film.
Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 29162923
Rotation mode based TENG
132
TENG configurations
Yang et. al, Adv. Mat. 2013
Single-electrode TENG in contact-separation mode

Single-electrode TENGs may be more practical and feasible in several mechanical energy harvesting scenarios, e.g. rotating
tyres, body contact etc.
133
TENG configurations
ACS Nano 2013, 7, 73427351.
Single-electrode TENG in sliding mode
134
TENG as self-powered sensor
Pressure sensor
Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 31093114
Touch sensor
Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 50655069
ACS Nano 2013, 10.1021/nn403838y
135
Chemical sensor
Outlook
Triboelectric generators are generating significant interest in the mechanical energy harvesting community
due to the relative simplicity of the materials and processing involved, and the promising output performance
Surface modification may be key to performance optimisation
These types of devices tend to have high output impedence, thus impedence matching may be an issue and
additional power conditioning circuitry will be required.
A major issue is the presence of static charges which may be detrimental for electronic devices in the vicinity
of the nanogenerator.
The field is very new and research in the coming years should strengthen our understanding of the
tribolelectric effect in order to fully harness its potential in mechanical energy harvesting.
End of Lecture 7
136

Thermal Energy Harvesting (Part 1)
Thermoelectric devices
Figure of merit and materials selection
Nanostructured thermoelectric materials
137

There are several sources of heat in our environment, most of which goes to waste. For e.g. waste heat from vehicle
exhausts and radiators, cooling water of steel plants and other industrial processes, heat generated in computers, and
temperature difference between the surface and the bottom of oceans. Temperature differences are even present between
human bodies and the ambient.
Thermoelectric devices, which are capable of converting heat into electricity, have potential for thermal energy harvesting.
Thermoelectric devices can help to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions of fossil fuel systems through
waste heat recovery. They can also be integrated into autonomous systems to enhance the capability and lifetime of selfpowered electronic devices by harvesting thermal energy from their environment, or even charging wireless sensors and
mobile devices from human body heat.
Thermoelectric generators are designed on the principle of the Seebeck effect, and scale down easily with size. They have
the potential for being green, sustainable, maintenance-free with virtually infinite power for wireless devices.
Micropelt Thermogenerator Chip MPG-D751

138
Thermoelectric effects
Thermoelectricity refers to a class of phenomena in which a temperature difference creates an electric potential/current
creates a temperature difference.
Seebeck Effect is the generation of a voltage across a material as a result of a temperature difference and is the principle used
in thermoelectric generators.
Peltier Effect is the opposite generating a temperature difference as a result of an applied voltage/current. This is used for
refrigerant free cooling.
Thomson effect refers to heat being absorbed or produced when current flows in material with a certain temperature
gradient. The heat is proportional to both the electric current and the temperature gradient. This is known as Thomson effect.
Seebeck effect
Peltier effect
Thomson effect
139
Thermoelectric effects
Mathematically, the Seebeck effect can be described as
, where D is the Seebeck coefficient (units V/K)
Typically, metals have Seebeck coefficients up to few tens of mV/K, semiconductors can have Seebeck coefficients 1-2 orders
larger in magnitude. A thermoelectric device operated in the Seebeck mode converts heat into electricity and is a generator
The Peltier effect can be described by the following: the rate at which heat is removed from one junction to another
junction is given by
, where I is the current flowing in the circuit and S is the Peltier coefficient (unit V). A
thermoelectric device operated in the Peltier mode pumps heat from one junction to another and can be used as a
refrigerator, e.g. during camping, as portable coolers, for cooling electronic components and small instruments.
The Thompson effect can be mathematically described as
, where E is the Thomson coefficent (unit V/K).
The three thermoelectric coefficients are not independent of each other, but are related by the Kelvin relationships:
The first equation describes the relationship between the Seebeck and Peltier coefficients. This indicates that the materials
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that are suitable for thermoelectric power generation are also suitable for thermoelectric refrigeration.
Thermoelectric generators
In a thermoelectric material there are free electrons or holes which carry both charge and heat.
To a first approximation, the electrons and holes in a thermoelectric semiconductor behave like a gas of charged particles. If a
normal (uncharged) gas is placed in a box within a temperature gradient, where one side is cold and the other is hot, the gas
molecules at the hot end will move faster than those at the cold end. The faster hot molecules will diffuse further than the
cold molecules and so there will be a net build up of molecules (higher density) at the cold end. The density gradient will
drive the molecules to diffuse back to the hot end. In the steady state, the effect of the density gradient will exactly
counteract the effect of the temperature gradient so there is no net flow of molecules.
If the molecules are charged, the build-up of charge at the cold end will also produce a repulsive electrostatic force (and
therefore electric potential) to push the charges back to the hot end. If the free charges are positive (the material is p-type),
positive charge will build up on the cold which will have a positive potential. Similarly, negative free charges (n-type material)
will produce a negative potential at the cold end.
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Thermoelectric generators
The simplest thermoelectric power generator consists of a thermocouple, comprising a p-type and n-type material
connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel.
A thermoelectric module consists of a number of the basic building blocks connected electrically in series but thermally in
parallel and sandwiched between two ceramic plates to maximize voltage output.
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Power output
A thermoelectric generator can be viewed as a thermal battery. The electromotive force of this thermal battery is the
Seebeck voltage Vo = npT. See equivalent circuit below:
Power delivered to the load,
, where s = RL/R
Maximum power output is obtained at R = RL,

For given np and R values, the maximum power output of a thermoelectric generator increases parabolically with an increase
in temperature difference. But, in practice, the Pmax T plot deviates slightly from the parabolic relationship because
both np and R change slightly with temperature.
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Energy conversion efficiency

K
We have already seen that
. , we can work out the heat flux at the hot junction by considering the
Peltier heat, Joule heat and heat conduction in the material.
It can be shown that the maximum conversion efficiency is given by:

K=
Where Z = Dnp2/(RK) is the thermoelectric figure of merit and

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Energy conversion efficiency
Thermoelectric generators suffer from poor efficiency values. There is tremendous ongoing effort to improve the
thermoelectric figure of merit, and hence efficiency through clever materials engineering.
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Thermoelectric figure of merit

For a given temperature difference between the hot and cold ends, K depends on Z of the material
For a single material with electrical conductivity V and thermal conductivity N, the thermoelectric figure of merit can be
simplified to an expression that involves only fundamental properties of the material, independent of geometry.
N
A good thermoelectric materials must thus have a large Seebeck coefficient to produce a large voltage for a given
temperature difference, large electrical conductivity to minimize Joule heating, and low thermal conductivity to retain the
heat at the hot junction. i.e. thermal transfer needs to be dominated by electrons NOT phonons. (N = Nel + Nph)
There has to be a compromise between D, V and N in order to maximise Z.
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Optimum carrier concentration values in the range 1023 1026 m-3
heavily doped semiconductors
147

Z varies with temperature, its unit being K-1. A dimensionless figure of merit, ZT, is more commonly used. Currently, all
established thermoelectric materials have a maximum ZT ~ 1. As of now, Bi2Te3 alloys have ZT ~1 at room temperature,
making them the preferred choice for most thermoelectric generators, and indeed coolers.
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The evolution of thermoelectric materials
The discovery of new and exciting thermoelectric materials has spurred the development of novel thermoelectric generators
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Improving ZT
N = Nel + Nph
The higher the electrical conductivity, the higher the value of Nel , according to Wiedemann-Franz law.
Our best bet is therefore to try and minimize Nph . Key strategies include:
- Alloying : create point defects, vacancies, or rattling structures to scatter phonons.
- Complex crystals to separate the phonon-glass from the electron-crystal: In the expression for ZT, thermal conductivity
and electrical conductivity compete. It has been proposed that in order to improve ZT, phonons responsible for thermal
conductivity must experience the material as they would in a glass, i.e. experiencing a high degree of phonon scattering
which lowers the thermal conductivity, while electrons must experience the material as a crystal, i.e. experiencing very little
scattering meaning high electrical conductivity.
Phonon-gas, electron-crystal (PGEC) behaviour
- Multiphase nanocomposites that scatter phonons at the interfaces of nanostructured materials.
- Reduced dimensionality: The Seebeck coefficient heavily depends od the band structure, specifically the number of subbands that contribute and the density of states in each band. Reduced dimensionality, e.g. in quantum wells/dots,
decreases the number of bands and creates a more distribution of density of states in-plane, enhancing the
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thermoelectric properties of the system.
PGEC materials Skutterudites and Clathrates

Skutterudites such as CoSb3 and clathrates such as Sr3Ga16Ge30 have an open cage-like structure. When atoms are placed
into the interstitial voids or cages of these materials, the lattice thermal conductivity can be substantially reduced, retaining
at the same time good electrical properties.
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Nanostructured chalcogenides
Nanostructured superlattices comprising
alternating Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 layers produce
a device in which there is good electrical
conductivity but poor thermal conductivity
perpendicular to the layers. The result is an
enhanced ZT (approximately 2.4) at room
temperature for p-type devices.
(Bi2Te3 has the same structure)
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Strongly correlated materials - cobaltites

Cobaltites are generating significant interest due to their promising thermoelectric properties. They exhibit low thermal
conductivity due to their layered structure.
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Quantum dot superlattices PbTe/PbSeTe system

Quantum dot (0D) formation due to lattice mismatch of PbTe and PbSeTe. Significant reduction in phonon thermal
conductivity is observed in these structures due to confinement effects and scattering at interfaces. ZT close to 4!!
However, these technologies are still quite young and suffer from problems such as scalability, cost, reproducibility, toxicity
and availability of constituent materials.
End of Lecture 8 154

Thermal Energy Harvesting (Part2)
Pyroelectric Materials
Thermodynamic Cycles
Pyro-Piezo Hybrid nanogenerators
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Thermal energy harvesting using pyroelectric materials

Thermoelectric materials and systems generate electrical power from temperature gradients (dT/dx), while
pyroelectric materials produce power from temperature fluctuations (dT/dt) and have some similarities to the way in
which piezoelectric harvesters convert mechanical oscillations (dS/dt) into electricity.
Under the correct conditions, pyroelectric materials have the potential to operate with a high thermodynamic
efficiency and, compared to thermoelectrics, do not require bulky heat sinks to maintain a temperature gradient
Since temperature oscillations are often slow, efforts to transform a temperature gradient into a time variable
temperature include the use of cyclic pumping. The power consumed by the pumping process can be a relatively
small fraction of the harvested energy (<2%), which can make the process feasible.
Certain pyroelectric materials can operate at very high temperatures where traditional thermoelectric materials
cannot operate, which may be useful and vital in specific applications.
Pyroelectric harvesters tend to operate at low frequency, typically <1 Hz, due to the slow temperature oscillations in
systems of large thermal mass and heat transfer inertia.
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Pyroelectric materials
Examples of Pyroelectric materials
157
158
The generated current due to a pyroelectric charge Q is given by:
The ability of small changes in temperature to produce a pyroelectric current has been exploited for infra-red imaging and
motion detection by body heat.
To maximise the pyroelectric current, the pyroelectric material should have a large surface area, large pyroelectric coefficient
and a high rate of temperature change.
In general, ferroelectric materials have larger pyroelectric (and piezoelectric) coefficients compared to non-ferroelectric
materials. However if a ferroelectric material is heated beyond the Curie temperature (TC) it undergoes a phase transition
where the spontaneous polarization and both the pyroelectric (and piezoelectric) behaviour vanish.
While the loss of piezoelectric properties above the Curie temperature is a disadvantage for vibration harvesters, the phase
transition at the Curie temperature has attracted some interest for pyroelectric harvesting since the material has the potential
to discharge a large amount of electrical energy as the level of polarisation falls to zero
159
Pyroelectric coefficients
A temperature change alters the degree of polarisation in a pyroelectric materials and leads to an electric current.
The primary pyroelectric effect is relevant to the condition of a perfectly clamped material under constant strain
with a homogenous heat distribution without an external field bias.
Since thermal expansion induces a strain that alters the electric displacement via the piezoelectric effect, in many
cases of measurement and energy harvesting, a secondary pyroelectric effect is present.
Using tensor notation the primary pyroelectric coefficient at constant strain (px), i.e. in the clamped condition, is
related to the pyroelectric coefficient at constant stress (pV) by
For thin-film materials, substrate clamping can reduce the pyroelectric response to a small value compared to its
unclamped value. Thus, it may be beneficial to replace thin films with a nanorod geometry that is less likely to
suffer from substrate clamping.
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Pyroelectric coefficients
For thin-film materials, substrate clamping can reduce the pyroelectric response to a small value compared to its
unclamped value. Thus, it may be beneficial to replace thin films with a nanorod geometry that is less likely to
suffer from substrate clamping.
Nano Lett., 2012, 12, 28332838

Tertiary pyroelectricity, due to non-uniform heating, is also possible since non-uniform heating generates shear
stresses that result in polarization through the piezoelectric effect. In this case the current generated is dependent
on the magnitude of the temperature gradient.
Secondary and tertiary effects are therefore potential routes for enhancing thermal harvesting along with heat
transfer enhancement or materials selection or development, which will now be described. For example, coupling
a pyroelectric to an external structure which undergoes large thermal deformations is also a potential
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approach to enhance harvested energy.
Pyroelectric materials how much energy?

Pyroelectric charge,
Equivalent capacitance
Therefore, (as, Q = CV)

Amount of energy stored in the material at the end of the temperature change and is expressed as:
162
Figures of merit
To maximise the pyroelectric current generated for a given energy input, the FOM is:
The above figures of merit are often used for selection of materials for heat and infra-red detection, but these are not to be
confused with energy harvesting applications where generated energy or power is a key criterion as well as the overall
efficiency of the conversion of thermal energy to electrical energy. For pyroelectric energy harvesting, an electro-thermal
coupling factor has been defined to estimate the effectiveness of thermal harvesting:
where Thot is the maximum working temperature.

Another figure of merit widely used for materials selection and design is
Note that these static definitions of figures of merit do not take into account the transient nature of heat transfer and dielectric
losses.
163
Comparison of pyroelectric materials
Bowen et. al, Energy and Enviromental Science (2014)
164
Comparison of pyroelectric materials
165
Pyroelectric cycles for energy harvesting

1. Carnot Cycle
The Carnot cycle for pyroelectric energy harvesting faces significant practical limitations, for example the need
for adiabatic temperature changes and two isothermal paths. The Carnot cycle, while impractical, is often used
for comparative purposes to other cycles.
166

2. Resistive Cycles
A simple approach to using pyroelectric energy harvesting is to connect the material to a resistive electrical load and
subject it to a temperature change.
Estimation of the optimum energy harvested by simple resistive loading is often based on a sinuosoidal variation of
temperature and an optimal resistive load depending of frequency and material permittivity (total capacitance). Based on
this type of cycle, the conversion efficiency relative to the Carnot cycle is:
k2 values are typically small thus the conversion efficiency is low but the electrical circuits that can be employed are
relatively simple.
One limitation of using simple resistive loading and applying no external electric field is that if a ferroelectric is subjected
to temperatures above the Curie temperature, there will be depolarisation of the material. When the ferroelectric is
subsequently re-cooled below TC, in the absence of an applied electric field, there is no longer any net polarisation
(and therefore no pyroelectric behaviour) since the ferroelectric domains are now randomly aligned. For this reason, while
high pyroelectric activity takes place around the ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition, resistive generators using
ferroelectrics tend to be limited to temperatures below the Curie temperature and transform only a fraction of the
available heat into electricity
167

3. Synchronised electric charge extraction (SECE)
The synchronised electric charge extraction process involves extracting the charge generated when the maximum temperature is
reached and the stored energy is at a maximum and extracting the charge again when the temperature is a minimum
This cycle is more efficient than resistive cycle and has advantages in that voltage control is not required and no pre-determination
of working temperatures or their control is necessary
168

4. Synchronised switch damping on inductor (SSDI) cycle
In this case the voltage on the pyroelectric material is switched on an inductor at each maximum or minimum temperature so that
the electric field is rapidly reversed at low loss.
169

5. Olsen Cycle
Olsen proposed a working pyroelectric cycle between two different polarization curves obtained at two distinct temperatures for
a material. This type of pyroelectric converter is an electric form of heat engine
With this type of harvesting cycle the net trade-off of employing

an external electrical field is a higher efficiency compared to most
other cycles. To generate high levels of power from the Olsen
cycle the ability to apply large electric fields is advantageous, and
therefore materials with a high dielectric strength are desirable to
avoid field-induced crack propagation, i.e. breakdown.
The need to employ external electric field leads to this cycle
being employed for larger energy harvesting systems, rather
than nano- or micro-scale devices; making is less suitable for
wireless power systems.
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Pyroelectric energy harvesting using Olsen cycles
171
Nanoscale pyroelectric devices
Increase in operating frequency due to efficient heat transfer

Rate of change of temperature can be improved by reducing thickness thin films
Partial top-electrode coverage to improve contact with heat source
Tailoring phase transitions through nanostructuring Giant pyroelectric effect
Avoid clamping effects in nanorod geometry
Nano Lett., 2012, 12, 64086413.

172
Hybrid generators
Combining pyroelectric and piezoelectric energy harvesting capabilities
173
Hybrid generators
Stretchable, hybrid piezoelectricpyroelectric nano-generator
Adv. Mater., 2014, 26, 765769.

174
Hybrid generators
Proc. SPIE, 2011,8035, 80350V.
Sens. Actuators, A, 2013, 189, 100107.
Appl. Phys. Lett., 2011, 99, 104102.
End of Lecture 9
175

Energy storage (Part 1)
Role of storage in energy harvesting
2D Microbatteries
3D Microbatteries
176
Energy storage
Batteries and electrochemical capacitors have been traditionally employed as power sources for electronic devices where
wired power sources are undesirable or not an option.
The diminishing size of electronic devices has necessitated new means to power them, and energy harvesting from ambient
sources has been identified as one of the key means of achieving self-powered autonomous devices. However, even then,
effective intermediate energy storage is required for all energy harvesting concepts, due to the varying availability of
ambient energy and varying energy requirements of the device.
Microenergy storage devices, such as microbatteries and supercapacitors, can be used in conjunction with one or more
energy harvesters to provide permanent power to autonomous wireless systems. The energy storage system can be chosen
depending on the availability/amount of harvestable energy and the efficiency of the energy harvesting mechanism.
Energy storage is particularly relevant in the context of energy harvesting because

ambient energy sources are typically periodic or intermittent. Electrical energy
storage, such as batteries, is crucial to solve the problem, as they can efficiently
store electricity in chemicals and release it according to demand.
Microbattery developed by a research team from Harvard Univeristy and the

university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Energy storage
A capacitor is a device to store the charge in an electric
circuit. It is made up of two conductors separated by a
dielectric material.
A battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy and

is made of two chemically different electrodes sandwiching
an ion-conducting electrolyte phase.
An electrochemical capacitor/supercapacitor is an energy

storage device that stores energy electrostatically by
polarising an electrolytic solution. Unlike batteries, no
chemical reaction takes place when energy is being stored or
discharged and so supercapacitors can go through hundreds
of thousands of charging cycles with no degradation.
Ragone plot comparing energy storage devices
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Batteries
Batteries are galvanic cells in which chemical energy from electrochemical reactions is converted to electrical energy that
can be harnessed externally. They contain two chemically different electrodes sandwiching an ion-conducting electrolyte
phase. Upon electrical connection to a load, chemical reactions occur and ions travel across the electrolyte. A
spontaneous flow of electrons occurs in the external circuit from the electrode with the more negative potential to the
more positive electrode, and can therefore be used to power a load such as a device
The energy is typically reported in units of joules (J) or watt-hours (Wh). The total amount of charge extracted from the
battery, or how much that can be stored in the cell, is known as the capacity typically reported as amp-hours (Ah) or
coulombs (C).
These quantities can be normalized with respect to weight, volume, and footprint area. For e.g, electrochemical storage
energy is primarily quantified in terms of the specific energy (Wh/g), the amount of energy stored per unit volume
(Wh/cm3), and the energy stored per unit footprint area occupied on a substrate (Wh/cm2). When comparing
179
microdevices the constrained unit is most often the footprint area occupied on a substrate.
Batteries - basics
180
Batteries - basics
181
Lead acid battery
182
Battery Figures of Merit
183
Batteries
Primary batteries are those in which the electrochemical reaction is not reversible. They can produce current immediately
on assembly. A primary cell is not rechargeable because the chemical reactions are not reversible and active materials may
not return to their original forms. For e.g. alkaline batteries dependent on the reaction between Zn and MnO2.
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Batteries
Secondary batteries are also known as rechargeable batteries because their electrochemical reactions are electrically
reversible. For e.g. a Li-ion battery in which Li ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during
discharge, and reversely when charging. During discharge the negative electrode is the anode where oxidation takes place
and during charge it turns into the cathode where reduction takes place.
High energy density

Popular in consumer electronics
Lightweight
Safety issues with Li-ion batteries!
185
Li-ion Batteries
186
Microbatteries Materials?
Microbattery electrode and electrolyte chemistries are in most cases indistinguishable from those of macrobatteries, the
resulting microbattery performance does not usually scale proportionally because the configurations, materials deposition
and packaging methods used to assemble macrobatteries and are not often feasible in the micro-scale.
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2D Microbatteries
Two-dimensional microbatteries generally are cells configured from successive film depositions, either in planar or stacked
arrangements.
Most thin film, solid-state batteries are fabricated using physical vapor deposition (PVD) tools that deposit materials onto a
substrate via condensation from its vapor phase. PVD tools that have been used for thin film batteries include sputtering
and pulse laser deposition.
Commercial thin film batteries are typically a few cm2 in footprint area with capacities ranging from 10 Ah/cm2 to
188
1 mAh/cm2.
2D Microbatteries
Thin film deposition processes can be modified to deposit batteries with active areas under 1 mm2. These processes are
compatible with standard microfabrication methods, and thus thin-film microbatteries can be deposited while
concurrently patterning other wafer-scale components onto the same substrate. Multiple thin-film microbatteries can be
patterned in series and parallel configurations to match voltage and current requirements.
But limited storage

capacity!!
Inactive packaging and

support components
occupying a majority
of the total device
weight and volume
Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 19, 045004, (2009).

189
Thick-film microbatteries
Thick film microbatteries have electrode components with thicknesses that are at least an order of magnitude greater
than thin film batteries, but still much thinner than button and coin cell macrobatteries. Therefore, like thin film
microbatteries, thick film microbatteries can be embedded into or on substrates in an inconspicuous fashion.
Fabrication of monolithic structures that can be integrated/embedded into devices

190
Microfabricated thick-film microbatteries

Microfabricated Zn-NiOOH planar microbattery using a combination of electron-beam evaporation, electrodeposition and
photolithography.
Journal of The Electrochemical Society,

148, A1357 (2001).
A commercial solar cell was used to charge a prototype microbattery and more than 2,300 recurring pulse discharges were
extracted from the microbattery without performance degradation. One of the first reported implementations of hybrid
power supply combining an energy harvester with a microbattery in 2006.
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Solutions processed microbatteries

Most thick film microbattery fabrication procedures are solution-based processes that can deposit porous electrodes with
compositions similar to commercial macrobatteries. The materials that can be deposited include metals, ceramics, and
polymers, and they can be deposited as suspensions, solutions, or slurries, all of which are referred to as inks
Flow-based direct writing room temperature deposition, minimal wastage.

192
Performance of 2D microbatteries
193
3D microbatteries
3D microbatteries function identically to 2D microbatteries, but enhanced electrochemical performance can be achieved
due to the larger amount of electrode and electrolyte interfaces possible, while maintaining short ion transport distances
between electrodes. As a consequence, large areal energy densities are achievable without sacrificing high rate
power performance.
3D microbattery architectures with at least one

discontinuous component
3D microbattery architectures where electrodes and

194
electrolyte are each continuous phases.
Example of 3D microbattery architecture
Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 16, 844 (2007)
195
Example of 3D microbattery architecture
Journal Of Microelectromechanical Systems 14 (2005) 879.
196
Performance of 3D microbatteries
End of Lecture 10
197

Energy storage (Part 2)
Supercapacitors
Electric double-layer capacitance
Pseudocapacitance
Hybrid supercapacitors
198
Supercapacitors
Supercapacitors, or electrochemical capacitors, do not have a conventional solid dielectric. Rather, electrostatic storage is
achieved by separation of charge in a Helmholtz double layer at the interface between a conductive electrode and an
electrolyte.
While supercapacitors have energy densities that are approximately 10% of conventional batteries, their power density is
generally 10 to 100 times greater. This results in much shorter charge/discharge cycles than batteries. Additionally, they
will tolerate many more charge and discharge cycles than batteries
Supercapacitors are limited in energy density compared to batteries, but may be appropriate for scenarios requiring
frequent, high-power pulse operation. Can be used in conjunction with batteries to address energy storage needs199of
autonomous systems.
Supercapacitors - background
Conventional capacitors consist of two conducting electrodes separated by an insulating dielectric material. When a voltage
is applied to a capacitor, opposite charges accumulate on the surfaces of each electrode. The charges are kept separate by
the dielectric, thus producing an electric field that allows the capacitor to store energy.
The internal components of the capacitor (e.g., current
collectors, electrodes, and dielectric material) also contribute
to the resistance, which is measured in aggregate by a quantity
known as the equivalent series resistance (ESR). The voltage
during discharge is determined by these resistances. When
measured at matched impedance (R = ESR), the maximum
power Pmax for a capacitor is given by
Conventional capacitors have relatively high power densities, but relatively low energy densities when compared to
electrochemical batteries and to fuel cells.
Supercapacitors are governed by the same basic principles as conventional capacitors. However, they incorporate electrodes
with much higher surface areas A and much thinner dielectrics that decrease the distance D between the electrodes.
Furthermore, by maintaining the low ESR characteristic of conventional capacitors, supercapacitors also are able to achieve
200
comparable power densities.
Supercapacitor basic operating principle
The double-layer serves approximately like the dielectric

layer in a conventional capacitor, but with the thickness
of a single molecule!
C = HA/d
No reversible chemical reactions they should, in

theory, operate indefinitely!
1. power source, 2. collector, 3.polarized electrode, 4. Helmholtz double layer, 5. electrolyte having positive
and negative ions, 6. Separator
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Electric double layer capacitor (EDLC)
Non-Faradaic
The performance characteristics of an EDLC can be adjusted by changing the nature of its electrolyte. An EDLC can utilize either
an aqueous or organic electrolyte. Aqueous electrolytes, such as H2SO4 and KOH, generally have lower ESR and lower
minimum pore size requirements compared to organic electrolytes, such as acetonitrile. However, aqueous electrolytes also
have lower breakdown voltages. Therefore, in choosing between an aqueous or organic electrolyte, one must consider the
tradeoffs between capacitance, ESR, and voltage.
While the nature of the electrolyte is of great importance in supercapacitor design, the subclasses of EDLCs are distinguished
primarily by the form of carbon they use as an electrode material. Carbon electrode materials generally have higher surface
area, lower cost, and more established fabrication techniques than other commonly used electrode materials such as
conductive polymers and metal oxides.
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Supercapacitor pseudocapacitance
Significantly higher capacitance can be achieved by using pseudocapacitive electrode materials. Unlike high surface area
carbon electrodes, which derive their storage capacity from the electrostatic arrangement of electrolyte ions along their
electrode-electrolyte interfaces, pseudocapacitive materials store energy through Faradaic reactions at these regions.
The redox reactions are reversible within reasonable voltage ranges, thus generally, pseudocapacitive electrodes provide
203
higher capacitance in exchange for cycle life and power density.
Supercapacitor - Capacitive mechanisms
electrochemical double-layer
surface redox mechanism
kinetically-favored intercalation mechanism

International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials, 2013
Vol. 4, No. 1, 226
204
Supercapacitor Electrode materials

EDLC electrode materials are predominantly carbon-based.
Activated Carbons utilize a complex porous structure composed of differently sized micropores ( < 20 wide), mesopores
(20 - 500 ), and macropores ( >500 ) to achieve their high surface areas. Although capacitance is directly proportional
to surface area, empirical evidence suggests that, for activated carbons, not all of the high surface area contributes to the
capacitance of the device. This discrepancy is believed to be caused by electrolyte ions that are too large to diffuse into
smaller micropores, thus preventing some pores from contributing to charge storage.
Carbon aereogels are formed from a continuous network of conductive carbon nanoparticles with interspersed
mesopores. Due to this continuous structure and their ability to bond chemically to the current collector, carbon aerogels
do not require the application of an additional adhesive binding agent. As a binderless electrode, carbon aerogels have
been shown to have a lower ESR than activated carbons.
Carbon nanotubes: Electrodes made from this material commonly are grown as an entangled mat of carbon nanotubes,
with an open and accessible network of mesopores. Unlike other carbon-based electrodes, the mesopores in carbon
nanotube electrodes are interconnected, allowing a continuous charge distribution that uses almost all of the available
surface area. Because the electrolyte ions can more easily diffuse into the mesoporous network, carbon nanotube
electrodes also have a lower ESR than activated carbon
Graphene?
205

Vol. 4, No. 1, 226
206

surface redox mechanism
Benefiting from the fast reversible Faradaic charge transfer reaction, a higher energy density than EDLCs is delivered by
pseudo-capacitors. The pseudo-capacitive mechanism mainly points to the fast redox reaction carried out at the electrode
surface. Since the surface redox reactions occur only in the top few nanometers in the electrodes surface, nanoengineering
techniques play a significant role in enhancing pseudo-capacitive properties.
RuO2, an intensively studied pseudo-capacitive electrode with good conductivity, has been the focal point of both the academic
and industrial communities in recent decades. The fast and reversible electron transfer reaction on RuO2 electrode
accompanied by the electro-adsorption of protons in acidic electrolyte can be expressed by:
But very expensive!

where 0 x 2.
Inexpensive metal oxides have thereby been tried out in supercapacitive application to decrease the production cost of pseudocapacitors. A MnO2 electrode stores energy according to the reversible reaction with electrolyte cations (K+, Na+, H+), as
expressed by
207
But poor electrical conductivity of MnO2

In aqueous alkaline electrolyte, some metal oxides and metal hydroxides can also enhance electrode capacitive performance,
such as Ni(OH)2. The reversible redox reaction of Ni(OH)2 electrode in KOH electrolyte is
But narrow working voltage window

Conductive polymer (CP) is attractive as a pseudo-capacitive electrode because of its high electrical conductivity and low cost.
The surface redox reaction of CP can be described as a fast and reversible p-doping (oxidation) and n-doping (reduction)
process of electrolyte ions, as shown by
But severe degradation during cycling

in which A and B+ denote the electrolyte ions. The doping and de-doping processes involve the intercalation and deintercalation of ions.
Intense research into supercapacitor electrode materials!

208
Supercapacitor materials
209
Supercapacitor classification
Each class is characterized by its unique mechanism for storing charge. These are, respectively, non-Faradaic, Faradaic, and a
combination of the two. Faradaic processes, such as oxidation-reduction reactions, involve the transfer of charge between
electrode and electrolyte. A non-Faradaic mechanism, by contrast, does not use a chemical mechanism. Rather, charges are
210
distributed on surfaces by physical processes that do not involve the making or breaking of chemical bonds.
Hybrid Supercapacitor
Hybrid capacitors attempt to exploit the relative advantages and mitigate the relative disadvantages of EDLCs and
pseudocapacitors to realize better performance characteristics. Utilizing both Faradaic and non-Faradaic processes to store
charge, hybrid capacitors have achieved energy and power densities greater than EDLCs without the sacrifices in cycling
stability and affordability that have limited the success of pseudocapacitors
1. Composite electrodes integrate carbon-based materials with either conducting polymer or metal oxide materials and
incorporate both physical and chemical charge storage mechanisms together in a single electrode. The carbon-based materials
facilitate a capacitive double-layer of charge and also provide a high-surface-area backbone that increases the contact
between the deposited pseudocapacitive materials and electrolyte. The pseudocapacitive materials are able to further
increase the capacitance of the composite electrode through Faradaic reactions. Composite electrodes constructed from
carbon nanotubes and polypyrrole, a conducting polymer, have been particularly successful
2. Asymmetric hybrids combine Faradaic and non-Faradaic processes by coupling an EDLC electrode with a pseudocapacitor
electrode. In particular, the coupling of an activated carbon negative electrode with a conducting polymer positive electrode
has received a great deal of attention. The implementation of a negatively charged, activated carbon electrode attempts to
circumvent the lack of an efficient, negatively charged, conducting polymer material.
3. Battery-type hybrids are unique in coupling a supercapacitor electrode with a battery electrode. This specialized
configuration reflects the demand for higher energy supercapacitors and higher power batteries, combining the energy
characteristics of batteries with the power, cycle life, and recharging times of supercapacitors.
211
Hybrid Supercapacitor

Vol. 4, No. 1, 226
212
Equivalent circuit models
213
Supercapacitor microfabrication
Thin film supercapacitor research has largely benefited from the advances in thin film battery research, so parallel trends
in the fabrication processes are often seen.
Ink-jet printing 2mm2 footprint area, 2.1 mF/cm2
214
Microbatteries and supercapacitors - outlook

Both fields are still relatively new plenty of scope for innovation
Development of new materials novel combinations of electrodes/electrolytes to improve energy density and
power density
Device engineering for smart energy storage structures going the nano way
Safety and longevity of energy storage devices
Implementation into hybrid energy harvesting devices for autonomous systems
Integration with power management circuitry.
End of Lecture 11
215

Energy harvesting circuits and architecture
Micropower management
Maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
Low-power sensor design
Energy-aware communications protocols
216

Our primary interest lies in powering autonomous wireless sensor nodes (WSN). WSNs have attracted tremendous attention
over the last decade in forming the concept of smart spaces - collections of tiny, inexpensive WSNs organized in
clusters and networks deployed over a geographical area, capable of integrating continuous and unobtrusive measurement,
computing and wireless communication.
We have discussed various energy harvesting and energy storage schemes. But how does it all come together? How do we
interface an energy harvester with real-world applications?
First, let us consider the energy harvester from a practical standpoint:
- The power consumption of the harvester itself has to be very small so that the energy consumed by this circuit is much
smaller than the energy provided by the ambient sources.
- Energy harvesting circuits must have extremely high energy retention, due to the infrequency of the energy capture
activity.
- Low harvesting activity levels mean that it may be many hours before enough energy has been stored by the energy
harvesting circuit to trigger common WSN activities, for e.g. data transmission, sensing data, collecting data, etc.
- The energy harvesting circuit must also economize the stored energy in order to provide correct operation for the
intended application.
217
A typical scenario for the power consumption

of a wireless sensor node. Since the
consumption does not equally match the
harvester output, an energy buffer and power
management IC in between is necessary.
218
Energy harvesters can be broadly categorized in two groups:
- Thermoelectric generators and PV cells generate a variable DC-output voltage. They require a DCDC-converter with a
variable conversion factor and a controller to provide the battery or the electronics with the correct bias.
- Vibrational energy harvesters on the other hand produce an AC-output voltage. These harvesters require first a
rectifying ACDC-converter stage.
Furthermore, each energy harvester has an operation point where the extracted electrical energy has a maximum. This
maximum power point depends on the individual properties of the energy harvester. Maximum power is achieved by
adapting the input impedance to the maximum power point of the harvester. A controller is required to achieve this.
When the harvester generates less energy than the energy used by the controller and the converters, the power
management system has to shut down and ensure that it does not discharge the output. When there is again sufficient
power available, the power management system has to start up again autonomously. Finally, a battery management
circuit can be needed to ensure safe operating conditions when a battery is charged at the output.
219
Interface circuit impedance matching
Maximum power transfer occurs in the case where the load impedance is equal to the source impedance.
However, in an energy-harvester, the definition of the impedance of the source to which the load should be matched is not
generally as trivial as matching the load to a single electrical impedance. The source impedance will be dependent upon the
type of energy harvester used and the conditions under which the harvester operates.
It is therefore useful to specify that the input impedance of the interface circuit to the transducer must be controllable.
Examples of impedance-matching devices include: transformers [turns ratio = (source resistance/ load resistance)],
resistive networks (voltage divider), filters (perfect impedance matching at specific frequencies).
220
DC-DC conversion : some examples

Dickson charge pump: is a form of DC-to-DC converter generally intended for low-voltage purposes. In addition to the
DC input, the circuit requires a feed of two clock pulse trains with an amplitude swinging between the DC supply rails.
These pulse trains are in antiphase.
Standard Dickson 4-stage charge pump: When I1 is low, D1 will charge C1 to Vin. When I1 goes high the top plate of C1 is
pushed up to 2Vin. D1 is then turned off and D2 turned on and C2 begins to charge to 2Vin. On the next clock cycle, I1 goes
low while I2 goes high pushing the top plate of C2 to 3Vin. D2 switches off and D3 switches on, charging C3 to 3Vin and so
on with charge passing up the chain. The final diode-capacitor cell in the cascade is connected to ground rather than a
clock phase and hence is not a multiplier; it is a peak detector which merely provides smoothing
221
DC-DC conversion : some examples

Buck-Boost converter: has an output voltage magnitude that is either greater than or less than the input voltage
magnitude. The output voltage is adjustable based on the duty cycle of the switching transistor.
The two operating states of a buckboost converter:

When the switch is turned-on, the input voltage source
supplies current to the inductor, and the capacitor
supplies current to the resistor (output load). When the
switch is opened, the inductor supplies current to the
load via the diode
222
Rectification (AC-DC) and voltage regulation

For an ac energy source, (e.g. a vibrational energy harvester), rectification may be required. The simplest way this can be
achieved is by using diodes for rectification, and a capacitor for smoothing:
Half-wave rectification
223
Rectification and voltage regulation
Half-wave rectifier with smoothing capacitor filter

224
Rectification and voltage regulation
Full-wave bridge rectifier positive cycle
Full-wave bridge rectifier negative cycle
Full-wave rectifier with capacitor filter
225
Bringing it all together!
Control circuit requires 2.1 PW
Block diagram of the capacitive charge pump based power management circuit for converting thermoelectric power
(Doms I, Merken P, Mertens R, Van Hoof C. A capacitive power-management circuit for micropower thermoelectric generators with a
2.1 PW controller. Presented at ISSCC 2008.)
226
Control circuit consumes <7 PA
Bennett DA, Selfridge RH, Harb JN, Comer DT. A control circuit for a microsensor hybrid power supply. IEEE Trans Ind Electron 2004;51:7480.
Control circuit consumes 15 PA
Guyomar D, Badel A, Lefeuvre E, Richard C. Toward energy harvesting using active materials and conversion improvement by nonlinear
processing. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelect Freq Control 2005;52:58495.
227
Maximum power point tracking

Solar cells have a complex relationship between solar irradiation, temperature and total resistance that produces a non-linear
output efficiency. An MPPT system samples the output of the cells and apply the proper resistance (load) to obtain maximum
power for any given environmental conditions.
A power source will deliver its maximum power to a load when the load has the same impedance as the internal impedance of
the power source. Unfortunately, batteries are far from the ideal load for a solar array and the mismatch results in major
efficiency losses.
228
The maximum power point can change substantially depending on external parameters. It is essential to track the
maximum power point for efficient power transfer, as the operating characteristic of the solar cell changes constantly.
229

Moving reference point and moving target!!
MPPT matches the voltage of the solar cell at the specified maximum power point (MPP) to the varying battery voltage as
the battery charges up.
Perturb and observe is the most commonly used MPPT method due to its ease of implementation. The controller adjusts
the voltage by a small amount from the array and measures power; if the power increases, further adjustments in that
230
direction are tried until power no longer increases.

Microntrollers: MCUs with 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-bit data bus width are implemented in WSNs. 4-bit MCUs were used in firstgeneration WSN, mainly intended for acquiring on/off signals (light detection, temperature, movement). The second
generation of WSNs is typically realized with 8-bit CPU. On average the power consumption in active mode of operation
varies from 3 mW up to 30 mW, and about 10 W in power down mode. Modern WSNs use 16/32-bit MCU with larger
number of power down modes, and are intended for multimedia data acquisition (voice, image). The power consumption of
32-bit MCUs in active mode is >100 mW.
Communication: Five states to consider:
Off - the only power consumption is leakage current, but coming out of the off-state can take a long time (many ms).
Sleep/ Standby - the WSN may be consuming as little as 100-300W and can wake-up quickly unless the main crystal
oscillator is turned off.
Listen - the WSN is listening for a packet to arrive, so most of the radio receiver must be on. State-of-the-art power numbers
for WSN communication modules in this mode are within a range from 9 - 40 mW.
Active Rx Receive state, similar to the Listen state, but use of additional circuitry may push power consumption for
transceiver to 50 mW.
Active Tx - in the transmit state, the WSNs active components include the RF power amplifier, which often dominates in highpower transmit systems. State-of-the-art power consumption for SN transceiver module is on average 40mW.
231

Sensing sub-system:
Duty cycling - consists of waking up the WSN only for the time needed to acquire a new set of samples and then
powering it off immediately afterwards
Adaptive-sensing strategy - is being able to dynamically change the WSN activity to the real dynamics of the process.
232
Energy-aware communication protocol

Wireless sensor networks
Common network topologies for sensor networks (a) star, (b) tree, with a mix of node types, and (c) mesh with a number of
homogenous nodes.
The software that a node executesincluding the communication protocol, application, and operating systemmust all be
energy-aware, and should be designed to maximize the useful life of the node and of the network as a whole. Energy-aware
design affects every layer of the communication stack, from the modulation scheme used in the physical layer to the highlevel protocols in the application layer.
233

Communication topologies
(a) direct, (b) flat multihop, and (c) clustered multihop.
For direct routing,
, Ptx is the transmission power consumption, Prx is the receive power consumption,
d is the separation distance between the source and sink nodes, is the wavelength, is the path loss exponent
(representing the rate at which the path loss increases with distance), and H is the number of hops.
234

For multihop routing,
Therefore, transmit power saving,
End of Lecture 12
235

Energy Harvesting

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What are some common energy harvesting applications discussed?

What are some common energy harvesting applications discussed?

What are the different states of wireless sensor networks in terms of power consumption?

What are the different states of wireless sensor networks in terms of power consumption?

III

Natural Sciences Tripos Part III

M19 Energy Harvesting

Lecture 1: Overall scope and objectives. Introduction to energy harvesting for

Additionally, there are several useful resources available on the internet.

ENERGY HARVESTING Lecture 1

Modern electronics is driven by the reduction in size of devices and the

Smart Mater. Struct. 17 (2008) 043001

Self-powered wireless sensors for IoT devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the interconnection of

Power requirements and energy management

Regenerative energy harvesting

Smart Mater. Struct. 17 (2008) 043001

Ambient power sources

Energy density comparison of natural energy sources

Ambient power sources The Sun

Ambient power sources The Sun

Mechanical energy harvesting

Mechanical energy harvesting

Mechanical energy harvesting techniques

Thermal energy harvesting

Thermal energy harvesting

Thermal energy harvesting using pyroelectric materials

Electrochimica Acta 45, 2483 (2000)

Development of micro-batteries and super-capacitors

Role of materials in energy harvesting technologies

Role of materials in energy harvesting technologies

Thermal energy harvesting technology:

ENERGY HARVESTING Lecture 2

Solar Energy Harvesting

Solar cell working principle

Solar cell characteristics

Fill factor, f = VpIp/VocIsc

Solar cell performance parameters

Solar cell requirements

Absorption depth and generation

Minority carrier lifetime and diffusion length

(May not need to be perfectly

ENERGY HARVESTING Lecture 3

Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 17, 320 (2009).

Equivalent circuit for nonideal solar cell

(n is the nonideality factor, between 1 and 2)

Minimising surface recombination

Surface passivation: reduce dangling bonds

Anti-reflection coating consist of a thin layer of dielectric material, with a

Planar reflector on the back

Texturing with geometric features on front and back of the device

Light trapping using a randomised reflector on the rear of the cell.

Materials and technologies

C-Si solar cells High Price of Low Carbon?

Materials and technologies

Metal back contact

Schematic of a typical C-Si device (mC-Si devices use wavelength AR coatings)

Materials and technologies

Materials and technologies