Hammam Tarek M, Alhalaili Badriyah, Abd El-Sadek M S, Abuelwafa Amr Attia
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt.
Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Program, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Kuwait City 13109, Kuwait.
Sensors (Basel). 2023 Sep 20;23(18):7995. doi: 10.3390/s23187995.
The development of renewable energy sources has grown increasingly as the world shifts toward lowering carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources, and its harvesting potential has gone beyond typical solar panels to small, portable devices. Also, the trend toward smart buildings is becoming more prevalent at the same time as sensors and small devices are becoming more integrated, and the demand for dependable, sustainable energy sources will increase. Our work aims to tackle the issue of identifying the most suitable protective layer for small optical devices that can efficiently utilize indoor light sources. To conduct our research, we designed and tested a model that allowed us to compare the performance of many small panels made of monocrystalline cells laminated with three different materials: epoxy resin, an ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), under varying light intensities from LED and CFL sources. The methods employed encompass contact angle measurements of the protective layers, providing insights into their wettability and hydrophobicity, which indicates protective layer performance against humidity. Reflection spectroscopy was used to evaluate the panels' reflectance properties across different wavelengths, which affect the light amount arrived at the solar cell. Furthermore, we characterized the PV panels' electrical behavior by measuring short-circuit current (I), open-circuit voltage (V), maximum power output (P), fill factor (FF), and load resistance (R). Our findings offer valuable insights into each PV panel's performance and the protective layer material's effect. Panels with ETFE layers exhibited remarkable hydrophobicity with a mean contact angle of 77.7°, indicating resistance against humidity-related effects. Also, panels with ETFE layers consistently outperformed others as they had the highest open circuit voltage (V) ranging between 1.63-4.08 V, fill factor (FF) between 35.9-67.3%, and lowest load resistance (R) ranging between 11,268-772 KΩ.cm under diverse light intensities from various light sources, as determined by our results. This makes ETFE panels a promising option for indoor energy harvesting, especially for powering sensors with low power requirements. This information could influence future research in developing energy harvesting solutions, thereby making a valuable contribution to the progress of sustainable energy technology.
随着世界朝着降低碳排放和支持可持续发展的方向转变，可再生能源的发展日益增长。太阳能是最有前途的可再生能源之一，其收集潜力已从典型的太阳能电池板扩展到小型便携式设备。此外，随着传感器和小型设备越来越集成，智能建筑的趋势也越来越普遍，对可靠、可持续能源的需求将会增加。我们的工作旨在解决为能够有效利用室内光源的小型光学设备确定最合适的保护层这一问题。为了进行我们的研究，我们设计并测试了一个模型，该模型使我们能够比较许多由单晶硅电池制成的小型面板的性能，这些面板层压了三种不同的材料：环氧树脂、乙烯 - 四氟乙烯共聚物（ETFE）和聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET），在来自LED和CFL光源的不同光强度下进行比较。所采用的方法包括对保护层进行接触角测量，以深入了解其润湿性和疏水性，这表明了保护层对湿度的防护性能。反射光谱用于评估面板在不同波长下的反射特性，这会影响到达太阳能电池的光量。此外，我们通过测量短路电流（I）、开路电压（V）、最大功率输出（P）、填充因子（FF）和负载电阻（R）来表征光伏面板的电学行为。我们的研究结果为每个光伏面板的性能以及保护层材料的影响提供了有价值的见解。带有ETFE层的面板表现出显著的疏水性，平均接触角为77.7°，表明对与湿度相关的影响具有抗性。此外，带有ETFE层的面板始终优于其他面板，因为在我们的结果所确定的来自各种光源的不同光强度下，它们具有最高开路电压（V），范围在1.63 - 4.08 V之间，填充因子（FF）在35.9 - 67.3%之间以及最低负载电阻（R），范围在11,268 - 772 KΩ.cm之间。这使得ETFE面板成为室内能量收集的一个有前途的选择，特别是为低功率要求的传感器供电。这些信息可能会影响未来开发能量收集解决方案的研究，从而为可持续能源技术的进步做出有价值的贡献。
