At the Symposium Y - “Advanced materials and characterization techniques for solar cells II” (European Materials Research Society Spring Meeting 2014, Lille, 24-30 May 2014) the invited talk "Approaches and challenges in optical modeling and characterization of thin-film solar cells" reviewed state-of-the-art modeling approaches and highlighted challenges in R&D of thin-film solar cells. Performance of thin film solar cells needs accelerated improvements. Where is the unused potential? Apart from inevitable energy conversion losses, both electrical and optical losses need to be defragmented per thin-film cell structure to path a way to further improvements. In case of TF-Si photon management is crucial for further improvement of conversion efficiency. By means of optical modeling losses are simulated and potential improvements in quality of materials discussed. Optical simulators developed at University of Ljubljana SunShine, FEMOS and CROWM are briefly reviewed and combined with rigorous 3D simulations based on COMSOL software. Finally, the record thin film solar cell are compared to the record crystalline solar cells and unused potential in performance of thin film solar cells is pointed out.
B.04 Guest lecture
In September 2014 we organized the 2nd Euroregional Workshop on Photovoltaics. Details can be found at http://euroreg-pv.fe.uni-lj.si/ The Euroregional workshop gathered PV experts together with PhD students. It was organised as a forum of global R&D trends in photovoltaics. It was an oportunity to meet researchers from across the Europe, get to know their research projects and share the common issues and challenges. The workshop covered the following themes: 1. Thin-film solar cells 2. Photonics in photovoltaic devices 3. Advanced optical modelling 4. Material and device characterization 5. Performance, reliability and monitoring of PV modules and systems 6. Storage and Smart Grid
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 10737236