A transparent conductive oxide coating, abbreviated TCO, is a doped metal oxide thin film predominantly used in optoelectronic devices and photovoltaics (including inorganic and organic devices as well as dye-sensitized solar cells). Most TCOs are manufactured with polycrystalline or amorphous…

Transparent solar cells consist of transparent luminescent solar concentrators. They consist of organic salts that absorb specific non-visible wavelengths of ultraviolet and infrared light. The emitted light is guided to the edge of plastic where thin strips of conventional photovoltaic…

Trickle charging means charging a fully charged battery under no-load at a rate equal to its self-discharge rate, thus enabling the battery to remain at its fully charged level. A battery under continuous float voltage charging is said to be…

Tunnel junction is a barrier (a thin insulating layer) or electric potential between two electrically conducting materials. The process of electrons passing through the barrier is called quantum tunnelling.

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 400 nm to 10 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. Solar panels can utilise ultraviolet the component of the solar spectrum too.

Metallurgical silicon normally has too many impurities for making solar cells. Purifying metallurgical silicon into “upgraded metallurgical silicon,” or UMG, creates a cheaper alternative than traditional methods. The photovoltaic industry produces upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon (UMG-Si), using metallurgical instead of chemical…

Utility refers to a commercial entity that owns and operates equipment and facilities for the generation, transmission and distribution of solar energy which it sells to general public and industrial consumers.

An inverter that can function only when the solar plant is connected to the utility grid, and uses the prevailing line-voltage frequency on the utility line as a control parameter to ensure that the Photovoltaic system’s output is fully synchronized with the utility…

Evaporation is a common method of thin film deposition. The source material is evaporated in vacuum. The thin film solar cells are used for generating the solar power by absorbing the photons from the sun light.

A solar cell made of different semiconductor materials in layers, one above the other. Sunlight entering the top passes through successive cell barriers, each of which converts a separate portion of the spectrum into electricity, thus achieving greater total conversion efficiency of the incident…