Book description
This first comprehensive description of the most important material
properties and device aspects closes the gap between general books on
solar cells and journal articles on chalcogenide-based photovoltaics.
Written by two very renowned authors with years of practical experience
in the field, the book covers II-VI and I-III-VI2 materials as well as
energy conversion at heterojunctions. It also discusses the latest
semiconductor heterojunction models and presents modern analysis
concepts. Thin film technology is explained with an emphasis on current
and future techniques for mass production, and the book closes with a
compendium of failure analysis in photovoltaic thin film modules.
With its overview of the semiconductor physics and technology needed,
this practical book is ideal for students, researchers, and
manufacturers, as well as for the growing number of engineers and
researchers working in companies and institutes on chalcogenide photovoltaics.
Roland Scheer received his diploma degree in electronic engineering
from the University of Applied Sciences Berlin, Germany. He joined AEG
Konstanz, Germany, in 1983 as electronic engineer. In parallel, he
studied physics at the University of Konstanz and at the Technical
University of Berlin where he received his physics diploma in 1990. In
1994, he finished his doctoral thesis in physics and joined the
Helmholtz Centre (former Hahn-Meitner Institute) in Berlin. His R&D
activities are focused on thin film solar cells where he invented a new
solar cell based on CuInS2. In 2002, Roland Scheer was visiting
scientist at the Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (AIST) in
Tsukuba, Japan. He was lecturer at the University of Potsdam until in
2010 he became full professor holding the endowed chair for
photovoltaics at the Martin-Luther-University in Halle-Wittenberg.
Hans-Werner Schock became head of the Institute of Technology at the
Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie (former
Hahn-Meitner Institute) in the division "Solar Energy
Research" in late 2004. He received his diploma in electrical
engineering in 1974 and obtained his PhD in electrical engineering from
Stuttgart University, Germany, in 1986. Starting in the early 70s, he
has taken the development of chalcogenide solar cells from basic
investigations to the transfer to a pilot fabrication plant. From 1986
to 2003 he coordinated the research on chalcopyrite based solar cells in
the framework of the European photovoltaic program. From 1982 to 2004 he
was head of the compound semiconductor thin film group of the Institute
of Physical Electronics at the University of Stuttgart. He is author or
co-author of more than 300 contributions in books, scientific journals
and published conference proceedings. For his achievements in the
development of chalcopyrite based solar cells he received the
prestigious "Becquerel Prize" in 2010.
