Ali Kaan Kalkan

Applications of AMPS-1D for solar cell simulation

The AMPS-1D PC computer program is now used by over 70 groups world-wide for detector and solar cell analysis. It has proved to be a very powerful tool in understanding device operation and physics for single crystal, poly-crystalline and amorphous structures. For example, AMPS-1D has been successful in explaining the “red kink” [1] and the “transient effect” in CdS/CIGS poly-crystalline solar cells. It has been used to show that thin film poly-Si structures, with reasonable light trapping, are capable of competitive solar cell conversion efficiencies. In the case of a-Si:H structures, it has been used, for example, to settle the discrepancies in bandgap measurement, to predict the effective QE>1 phenomenon later seen in these materials [2], to determine the relative roles of interface and bulk properties, and to point the direction toward 16% triple junction structures. In general AMPS-1D is used for cell and detector design, material parameter sensitivity studies, and parameter extraction. Recently we h...

Heat transfer in liquid metals with electric currents and magnetic fields: The conduction case☆

Abstract There are two volumetric heat sources in a liquid-metal sliding electrical contact for a homopolar device: Joulean heating and viscous dissipation. The Joulean heating is created by the presence of electric currents; the viscous dissipation results from the motion of the liquid metal and is enhanced by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects. In a homopolar device, the liquid metal is confined to a small gap between the perimeter of a rotating disk and the surrounding static surface. The maximum temperature achieved within the liquid metal is significantly larger for an MHD flow than for an ordinary hydrodynamic flow, a flow in the absence of a magnetic field. Information concerning the temperature distribution within the liquid metal and solid parts of a homopolar device will result in the design of efficient and operational sliding electrical contacts.