Publications related to Back-Contacted Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Short-term behavior of glass fiber-polymer composite bending-active elastica beam under service load application

Thomas Keller, Landolf-Giosef-Anastasios Rhode-Barbarigos, Tara Habibi

Bending-active elastica beam is a structural configuration that is based on the elastic deformation of an initially straight beam. This deformation occurs when horizontal displacements are applied to a sliding support, causing the beam to bend into an arch ...

2024

Influence of model uncertainty and long term deformations in action effects calculation in reinforced concrete structures

Xhemsi Malja

Most codes of practice adopt a semi probabilistic design approach for the dimensioning and assessment of structures. Accordingly, structural safety is ensured by performing limit state verifications using design values determined with adequately calibrated ...

EPFL2024

Influence of fiber orientation on the tensile behavior of UHPFRC and reinforced UHPFRC under static and fatigue loadings

Jian Zhan

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composite (UHPFRC) is a modern class of cementitious building materials. Because of its superior mechanical properties and durability, it is increasingly used globally to rehabilitate, strengthen and mod ...

EPFL2024

Insights from an extensive triaxial testing campaign on a shale for comparative site characterization of a deep geological repository

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Eleonora Crisci

Several boreholes were drilled for site comparison of a deep geological repository (DGR) in Northern Switzerland. The main target of the exploration program was the >100m thick Opalinus Clay, the designated host rock encountered at approximately 450 to 100 ...

Elsevier2024

Modeling friction and wear using an adaptive discrete-continuum coupling

Manon Eugénie Voisin--Leprince

When two objects slide against each other, wear and friction occur at their interface. The accumulation of wear forms what is commonly referred to as a ``third-body''. Understanding third-body evolution has significant applications in industry, where contr ...

EPFL2024

Instabilities in Elastic and Magneto-Elastic Beams and Shells: from Shell Buckling to the Design of a Programmable Braille Reader

Arefeh Abbasi

In this thesis, we conduct a comprehensive investigation into structural instabilities of both elastic and magneto-elastic beams and shells, resulting in a creative proposal to design a programmable braille reader. Methodologically, we combine numerical si ...

EPFL2024

Computational Homogenization for Inverse Design of Surface-based Inflatables

Mark Pauly, Francis Julian Panetta, Uday Kusupati, Yingying Ren, Florin Isvoranu, Seiichi Eduardo Suzuki Erazo

Surface-based inflatables are composed of two thin layers of nearly inextensible sheet material joined together along carefully selected fusing curves. During inflation, pressure forces separate the two sheets to maximize the enclosed volume. The fusing c ...

2024

Solute-strengthening in metal alloys with short-range order

William Curtin, Shankha Nag

Recent surging interest in strengthening of High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) with possible chemical ordering motivates the development of new theory. Here, an existing theory for random alloys that accounts for solute-dislocation and solute–solute interactions i ...

2024

Micro modeling of irregular stone masonry walls using mathematical programming

Katrin Beyer, Qianqing Wang, Ketson Roberto Maximiano Dos Santos

While understanding the shear strength of stone masonry structures is important for the design and the mainte- nance, we still lack computational tools for predicting the strength as a function of the stone layout. Here we implement an end-to-end image bas ...

Springer2024

Dataset for "Complexity of crack front geometry enhances toughness of brittle solids"

John Martin Kolinski, Chenzhuo Li, Xinyue Wei

This data package supports the publication 'Complexity of crack front geometry enhances toughness of brittle solids' by Xinyue Wei, Chenzhuo Li, Cían McCarthy, and John M. Kolinski Nature physics (2024) - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02435-x DOI: 1 ...

Zenodo2024

A comprehensive physical model for the sensitivity of silicon heterojunction photovoltaic modules to water ingress

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ)-solar modules-when encapsulated with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)-are known to be extremely sensitive to water ingress. The reason for this is, however, not clear. Here, we explain the root causes of this degradation mechanism ...

Cell Press2024

Microstructural and electrical characterization of high temperature passivating contacts for silicon solar cells

Sofia Libraro

Recombination at metal/semiconductor interfaces represents the main limitation in mainstream c-Si solar cells, primarily based on the passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) concept. Full-area passivating contacts based on SiOx/poly-Si stacks are a candida ...

EPFL2024

Morphological and Material Programability of a Hall-Effect Based Soft Tactile Sensors

Josephine Anna Eleanor Hughes, Sudong Lee

The different receptors in human skin show not only diversity in the stimuli to which they respond, but also variable sensitivity and directionality. This is often determined by their location or morphology, and can play an important role in filtering or a ...

IEEE2024

Stress tolerance of lightweight glass-free PV modules for vehicle integration

Christophe Ballif, Aïcha Hessler-Wyser, Antonin Faes, Jacques Levrat, Matthieu Despeisse, Gianluca Cattaneo, Fahradin Mujovi, Umang Bhupatrai Desai

Electric vehicles (EVs) currently dominate the sales in the automotive market. A big leap in this market can be made by developing a photovoltaic product that can be integrated to an EV, as it can boost the driving range of the EV while reducing the chargi ...

Edp Sciences S A2024

Font Side Solutions for c-Si Solar Cells with High-Temperature Passivating Contacts

Ezgi Genç

In this work, we studied the potential of using thin films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for two main purposes: introducing an n-type passivating contact at the front of a TOPCon solar cell, or simplifying the fabrication o ...

EPFL2024

Numerical Modeling of FRP-Strengthened Masonry Structures Using Equivalent Frame Models

Katrin Beyer, Francesco Vanin, Ivana Bozulic

The present study focuses on enhancing the seismic resistance of existing masonry structures. To that aim, the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening serves to improve structural behaviour by attaching FRP strips to the masonry walls. Despite ...

Springer2024

A global framework for data-informed bridge examination

Eugen Brühwiler, Philippe Schiltz, Numa Joy Bertola

Examining the performance of an existing bridge requires information on several aspects, such as design choices, material properties, and ongoing degradation processes. It often happens that some critical information is not available. The traditional appro ...

2024

Supramolecular interactions using β-cyclodextrin in controlling perovskite solar cell performance

Jun Ho Yum, Kevin Sivula, Jiyoun Seo, Parnian Ferdowsi

In the context of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), enhancing device performance often involves adding a small excess of lead iodide (PbI2) to the precursor solution. However, the presence of unreacted PbI2 can lead to accelerated degradation compromising lon ...

Royal Society of Chemistry2024

Improving the photoelectrocatalytic efficiency of CuWO4 through molybdenum for tungsten substitution and coupling with BiVO4

Kevin Sivula, Annalisa Polo

A systematic investigation on the photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) performance of a series of CuW1-xMoxO4 materials with different Mo for W substitution (x = 0-0.8), successfully synthesized as single, transparent photoactive layers, allowed us to identify copp ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2024

Alleviating nanostructural phase impurities enhances the optoelectronic properties, device performance and stability of cesium-formamidinium metal-halide perovskites

Christophe Ballif, Aïcha Hessler-Wyser, Quentin Thomas Jeangros, Beat Ruhstaller, Mostafa Rabie Shlaly Bahr Othman, Daniel Anthony Jacobs, Christian Michael Wolff, Anaël Morgane Jaffrès, Austin George Kuba

The technique of alloying FA+ with Cs+ is often used to promote structural stabilization of the desirable alpha-FAPbI3 phase in halide perovskite devices. However, the precise mechanisms by which these alloying approaches improve the optoelectronic quality ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2024