NREL/BK-520-40389 

Minority University Research Associates 

2006 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

Golden, Colorado 

2006 NREL-MURA Summer Research Associates 

Top row, left to right: 

Carl Eloi, Central State University 

Tsega Gebre-Egzi, North Carolina Central University 

Kenyatta S. Williams, Southern University and A&M College, Graduate 

Bottom row, left to right: 

Gilda Jimenez, University of Texas at Brownsville 

Thurston Melson, Central State University 

Michael Speed, Central State University 
NOTICE 

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. 

Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any 

warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or 

usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not 

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recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions 

of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any 

agency thereof. 

Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste 
Conference and Review Meeting Description

Program Overview

The DOE-NREL Minority University Research Associates Program (MURA) is an undergraduate 

research program that encourages minority students to pursue careers in science and technology. In 

this program, undergraduate/graduate students perform renewable energy research projects during the 

academic year with principal investigators at their university and are awarded summer internships in 

industry or at national laboratories such as NREL during the summer. Once accepted into the program, 

students can work on a research project for 1-3 years. By providing renewable energy research 

opportunities, the program has proven to be very successful in retaining minority undergraduate 

students in the science and technology areas and helping many students reach their educational and 

career goals. 

The MURA program is open to all minority-serving colleges and universities including Tribal 

Colleges-Universities, Hispanic, Alaska Native, and Hawaiian Native serving colleges and the 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Each university will conduct research in 1-3 areas: Basic 

Research, Photovoltaic Panel Measurement and Testing, and Solar Radiation Profile Study. Expansion 

to other solar energy technologies such as wind, bioenergy, and geothermal will provide additional 

solar energy project opportunities and internships. Students involved in research excel in the 

classroom learning experience and are committed to contribute to the development of renewable 

energy technologies to create a sustainable environment. 

For 10 weeks during the summer, students are given the opportunity to work with laboratory scientists 

and engineers as members of research teams at NREL or at another DOE national laboratory, 

university, or industry partner. The program is intended to provide additional training and skill 

development needed to prepare students with the necessary education and experience that will enable 

them to pursue science and technology careers in the renewable energy fields. 

At the close of the summer internship program, advisors, students, and NREL professionals participate 

in an annual Renewable Energy Academic Partnership (REAP) review meeting conference to discuss 

and share their research papers, future opportunities, and the national and global role of renewable 

energy in ensuring a secure and sustainable environment. 

This symposium focuses on NREL/DOE-funded projects at eight minority-serving colleges and 

universities: Central State, Fisk University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University, 

North Carolina Central University, Southern University and A&M College, University of Texas, 

Brownsville, and University of Texas, El Paso. 

This year, the REAP Student Summer Research Program Review Meeting (REAP-SSRM) marks the 

second meeting organized and operated by the students. Held as part of the 16th Workshop on 

Crystalline Solar Cells and Modules in Denver, Colorado, the REAP-SSRM presents students with a 

unique opportunity to be involved in the organization and management of a conference. Additionally, 

this meeting provides students the opportunity to network and be mentored by professional scientists 

and engineers, an opportunity not generally afforded them. 

1
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

Renewable Energy Academic Partnership (REAP) Student Summer Research 

Program Review Meeting 

Sixteenth Annual Workshop on 

Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes 

August 6-9, 2006 

Denver Marriott Hotel 

Denver, Colorado

Monday, August 7, 2006

7:30 - 8:30 a. m. Continental Breakfast; REAP Registration (Presentation CDs submitted) 

8:30 - 8:40 a.m. 

 

Welcome – Syl Morgan Smith, NREL Public Relations 

 Fannie Posey-Eddy, NREL-MURA Project Leader 

8:40 - 10:00 a.m. Technical Presentations 

Moderator: Kenyatta Williams, NREL–MURA Graduate Research Associate, 

Southern University and A&M College, Graduate 

8:40 - 8:50 a.m. Overview of the DOE NREL Minority University Research Associates Program 

Kenyatta Williams

8:50 - 9:10 a.m. Overview—Central State University Renewable Energy Research Associates 

Program

Clark Fuller, Principal Investigator (PI), Central State University 

9:10 - 9:30 a.m. Correlation Between Minority Carrier Lifetime and Minority Carrier Diffusion 

Length Measurement of Silicon Wafers

Carl Eloi, NREL–MURA Research Associate 

9:30 - 9:50 a.m. The Influences of Surface Roughness on the Accuracy of Dislocation Density 

by Using PVSCAN

Thurston Melson, NREL–MURA Research Associate 

9:50 - 10:10 a.m. Cross-Sectioning for Characterization of a Finished Solar Cell 

Michael Speed, NREL–MURA Research Associate 

10:10 - 10:20 a.m. Break 

10:20 - 12:00 Technical Presentations 

Moderator: Tsega Gebre-Egzi, NREL-MURA Research Associate, 

North Carolina Central University

10:20 - 10:50 a.m. An Intelligent Customer Power Management System 

James A. Momoh, Peter Bofah, Anthony Bantamoi, and Eshovo Momoh Howard 

University 

10:50 - 11:10 a.m. Comparing the Simulated Performance of a 2.5 kW Grid-Tied Photovoltaic 

System with Actual Data 

Cynthia Prince, North Carolina A&T University, Electrical Engineering 

Ghasem Shahbazi, PI, Director, Bioenvironmental Engineering Program 

11:10 - 11:30 a.m. Proton Conducting (PC) Perovskite Membranes for Hydrogen Separation and 

PC-SOFC Electrodes and Electrolytes 

2
B. Rambabu and Hrudananda Jena, Southern University and A&M College 

Ramsey Saunders, University of West Indies –St. Augustine Campus Trinidad 

MURA Participants: Mr. Jeremy Gilmore and Snowden India 

11:30 - 1:00 p.m. Lunch 

1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Technical Presentations 

Moderator: Carl Eloi, NREL–MURA Research Associate, 

Central State University

1:00 - 1:20 p.m. Proton Transport in Nanocrystalline Bioceramic Materials: An Investigative 

Study of Synthetic Bone with that of Natural Bone 

B. Rambabu and Hrudananda Jena, Southern University and A&M College 

Ramsey Saunders, University of West Indies –St. Augustine Campus Trinidad 

MURA Participants: Jeremy Gilmore and Snowden India 

1:20 - 1:40 p.m. Studies on Optical Processing for Fire-Through Metallization 

Kenyatta S. Williams, NREL–MURA Graduate Research Associate, 

Southern University and A&M College, Graduate 

1:40 - 2:00 p.m. Current Status of Tonatiuh—A Computer Program for the Simulation of Solar 

Concentrating Systems

 Dr. Blanco, PI, University of Texas Brownsville

2:00 - 2:20 p.m. Studies on Generation of Internal Photoresponse Maps of Si Solar Cells by 

PVSCAN 

Gilda Jimenez, NREL–MURA Research Associate 

2:20 - 2:40 p.m. An Overview of Research Progress on the Development of QD Sensitized Metal 

Oxide Nanorods Based Organic Solar Cells 

Richard Mu, PI, Fisk University 

2:40 - 3:00 p.m. The Fabrication and Characterization of ZnO Nanowires for PV Cells 

Tam’ra-Key Francis, Fisk University Department of Physics 

3:00 - 3:20 p.m. Break 

3:20 - 5:30 p.m. Technical Presentations 

Moderator: Michael Speed, NREL–MURA Program Research Associate, Central 

State University 

3:20 - 3:40 p.m. CdTe Nanoparticles Fabricated by Pulsed Electron-Beam Ablation 

Enrique Jackson, Fisk University Department of Physics 

3:40 - 4:00 p.m. Investigation of Photovoltaic and Thermophotovoltaic Semiconductors at North 

Carolina Central University 

Dr J. M. Dutta, PI, North Carolina Central University 

4:00 - 4:20 p.m. Study of Hydrogen Evolution from SiN:H during Fire-Through Metallization 

Tsega Gebre-Egzi, NREL–MURA Research Associate 

4:20 - 4:40 p.m. High Efficiency Photovoltaic Cells Quantum Dots at North Carolina Central 

University 

Dr. Branislv Vlahovic, North Carolina Central University 

4:40 - 5:00 p.m. Ultrafast Pulsed Laser Production of Silicon Nanoparticles 

W. Yohanes, M. Wu, J. M. Dutta, and B. Vlahovic 

Department of Physics, North Carolina Central University

5:00 - 5:20 p.m. Pulsed Laser Fabrication of Zero and One-Dimensional Nanostructures 

M. Wu and B. Vlahovic; North Carolina Central University

5:20 – 5:30 p.m. CLOSING: NREL-MURA Research Associates 

3
4
North Carolina A&T State University 

Comparing the Simulated Performance of a 2.5 kW Grid-Tied 

Photovoltaic System with Actual Data 

Cynthia Prince, Student, Electrical Engineering 

Ghasem Shahbazi, PI, Director, Bioenvironmental Engineering Program 

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 

A 2.5-kW photovoltaic (PV) system with battery storage was designed. Installed, and 

connected to a 1200-ft2 apartment unit to test the performance of a grid-connected PV system. 

The power generation system was interconnected with the local electric utility grid to allow 

for the grid to be used as a supplemental source of electric power. The actual net PV 

generation for a period of one-year was 2927.25 kilowatt-hour (kWh), with a yearly 

normalized yield of 1170.9 kWh/kWp. Assuming a 25-year useful life on equipment, based on 

the findings from the test of the system, the electricity that was produced cost about $0.4661 

per kWh. This cost is much higher than the unit price of electricity (about 8 cents per kWh) 

charged by the local utility. It is possible that the costs could be decreased by using different 

system components. There are, for example, three types of silicon PV panels. 

The three primary types of silicon photovoltaic solar cells available commercially are 

monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, and thin-film amorphous silicon. In 

monocrystalline silicon technology, individual cells are cut from large single crystals or ingots 

of crystalline silicon. Polycrystalline silicon, in contrast, consists of several smaller crystals or 

grains, which introduce boundaries. These boundaries impede the flow of electrons and 

reduce the power output of the solar cell. Although polycrystalline cells are generally less 

efficient than those of single-crystal silicon, they can be less expensive to produce. In thinfilm technology, the PV material is deposited on glass or thin metal that mechanically 

supports the cell or module. Thin-film cells work according to the same general principles as 

crystalline silicon cells, but they require less material. Thin-film modules are much simpler 

and less expensive to manufacture, but are the least efficient of the three. 

Computer programs that model PV systems are used to simulate the performance of 

PV generation systems. Results can be used in feasibility studies undertaken to determine 

whether PV can be used in specific projects. The simulation tool used in this study is 

TRNSYS (TRaNsient SYstems Simulation), a whole-building energy analysis tool. The three 

different types of silicon PV modules are modeled and the results are compared. The 

simulations are compared with the actual data to analyze the relative benefits of each type of 

module. The usefulness of TRNSYS in simulating the system is analyzed, as well. 

The overall goal of this project was to install and test a grid-connected photovoltaic 

system in Greensboro, North Carolina, to provide one-half of the energy needed in a 1200-ft2

apartment unit. The specific objectives of this study were to simulate the performance of the 

PV generation system using TRNSYS simulation software, as follows:

a) Create an input file for the existing PV generation system using thin-film modules, 

poly-crystalline modules, and single crystalline modules 

b) Simulate the PV generation using the TRNSYS simulation software 

c) Compare the actual PV generation with the simulation results for the above three 

options 

5
d) Prepare the performance curves for actual generation and simulation results 

e) Recommend an alternative power conversion system to improve system efficiency. 

TRNSYS illustrated the trade offs in choosing a PV module: if output is held relatively 

constant, as efficiency increases, module area decreases and price increases. The results are 

summarized in the following table. 

Monocrystalline Polycrystalline Thin Film 

Nominal Efficiency (%) 13.1 10.9 5.2 

Peak Output (kWhp) 2.55 2.52 2.58 

Area (m2) 19.5 23.1 47.4 

Annual Output (kWh) 3300 3380 3310 

Price ($) 15,690 14,868 11,640 

Future work will include investigation of the three different types of PV systems using 

RETScreen. The RETScreen International Renewable Energy Project Analysis Software is 

another simulation tool that can evaluate the energy production for various types of renewable 

energy technologies (RETs). The RETScreen results will be compared with the corresponding 

TRNSYS results and the actual data. RETScreen and TRNSYS will be analyzed to determine 

which package is preferable in terms of cost versus accuracy. 

6
Central State University

Overview—Central State University Renewable Energy Research Associates Program 

Clark Fuller 

Associate Director & Principal Investigator 

 Office of Sponsored Programs & Research 

cfuller@centralstate.edu

Undergraduate renewable energy research at Central State University (CSU) focuses 

on two themes: 1) renewable energy technology applications for the transportation industry, 

and 2) economic development challenges in developing countries. During Fiscal Year 2006, 

Central State University focused on involving students in projects related to those two themes, 

while at the same time developing strategies to leverage additional funds to provide internship 

opportunities for students at national laboratories. 

During 2005/2006, Central State used NREL program support funds to strengthen and 

continue its introductory Renewable Energy laboratory Course and expand its Summer 

Transportation Institute (STI). As an overlapping goal, one of the laboratory projects 

involved improving the design of a solar-energy charging station that will be constructed on 

campus. Although still in progress, the project attempts to incorporate components of both 

the transportation theme and the international theme. And although the research topic is 

primarily related to renewable energy in transportation, aspects of the project directly relate to 

energy projects CSU directs in some locations in West Africa. Nearly 15 college students 

completed the eight-week laboratory program and 35 high school students completed the STI 

program. 

Since 1991, Central State University has had collaboration agreements with academic 

institutions and non-governmental organizations in various countries in West Africa. These 

organizations include World Vision International/Senegal, Cheikh Anta Diop University 

(UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal, and the University of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia. Summer 

research programs involving Central State faculty and students were designed to strengthen 

these relationships. The program has been sponsored through the NREL MURA program, but 

all travel funds have been provided through Central State University, the U.S. Department of 

Education and the National Nuclear Security Administration. During the summers of 2005 

and 2006, two CSU professors and two CSU students have traveled to Senegal and Zambia to 

accomplish the following primary objectives: 

• Promote existing collaboration between CSU and its collaborating partners in Senegal 

and Zambia; 

• Conduct training and research in renewable energy applications; 

• Conduct hands-on training in rural areas with indigenous institutions. 

• Identify different areas of renewable energy research/projects to invest and implement 

in Africa; 

• Strengthen the position and enhance the experience and capability of CSU to compete 

for energy research grants and projects in developing countries. 

7
The NREL/MURA program has also expanded Central State's capability to provide 

internship opportunities for undergraduate students at several national research laboratories. 

During 2006, three students from Central State University will have spent seven months each 

at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory performing research in areas related to 

renewable energy technologies. 

8
Fisk University

An Overview of Research Progress on the Development of QD Sensitized Metal Oxide 

Nanorods Based Organic Solar Cells 

Richard Mu (PI) 

Nano-PV Program, Department of Physics, Fisk University 

We have proposed a high-efficiency solar cell design in which semiconductor quantum 

dots with several sizes are the efficient absorbers of the sunlight, and the positive and negative 

charge carriers created by the light absorption are to be separated and transferred to the 

electrodes. For the high-efficiency solar cell, ZnO nanowires (NWs) are the important 

building parts that create the charge separation and carrier pathways to the electrodes. 

For the fabrication of ZnO NWs, we have used Si wafers as smooth surface substrates. 

Gold was deposited on to the substrates with an electron-beam evaporator, because it is 

known that gold particles can serve as the catalyst to grow ZnO NWs on substrates in the 

vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. In the VLS method, the mixture of ZnO powder and 

graphite was placed at 1100oC and the substrates were at 800oC in a two-zone furnace. The 

reduction of ZnO of the source generates Zn vapor that moves toward gold particles, and the 

oxidation of Zn-Au alloy grows ZnO crystals. The gold-deposited area has ZnO crystal 

growth, and the gold particles play the role of nucleation sites. ZnO crystals have dimension 

of a few hundred nm thick and 2-3 μm long under this particular condition. The ZnO crystal 

shapes and sizes are very sensitive to the growth conditions: the gold particle size and 

density, temperatures for the source and substrates, distance between the source and 

substrates, quantity of the source, deposition time, and so on. SEM, AFM, XRD, PL and 

Raman spectroscopy have been used for characterization. 

In the semiconductor quantum dot fabrication front, CdTe, which has a bandgap of 1.56 

eV, is a front-runner photovoltaic material because it has already attained efficiencies above 

16%. CdTe nanoparticles are a good candidate for the development of an organic/nanocrystal 

composite active layer and also for sensitization of wide band gap semiconductors. We 

employ the pulsed electron-beam deposition (PED) technique to fabricate CdTe nanoparticles. 

Despite its unique features, PED is not yet a well-explored technique in fabricating 

semiconductor nanostructures. Its system cost is less expensive and it can be used for a wider 

range of materials as compared to pulsed laser deposition (PLD). In this work, we investigate 

using AFM, the effect of background gas pressure (P) and charging potential (U) on the 

particle shape, size, and particle density of the CdTe nanoparticles deposited on silicon. We 

also measure the optical absorbance of CdTe films on glass deposited at different P and U and 

correlate the results with particle size and distribution obtained from AFM characterization. 

Our results may provide useful insight on the application of PED for fabricating 

semiconductor nanoparticles. 

To obtain improved efficiencies, it is desirable to have an interpenetrating network of 

electron-accepting and hole-accepting components within the device. In this work, we 

sandwiched an active layer of MEH-PPV/CdSe nanocrystal composite between a transparent 

ZnO film and Al electrode and measure the photocurrent at zero bias voltage. By doing this, 

9
electron-hole separation can occur at the ZnO/polymer interface, CdSe/polymer interface and 

ZnO/CdSe/polymer interface. Thus, we investigate whether the use of a ZnO transparent 

electrode can improve the efficiency by acting as an acceptor of photogenerated electrons 

from both CdSe nanocrystals and conjugated polymers. The effect of varying the 

concentration of CdSe nanocrystals in the composite will also be discussed.

10
The Fabrication and Characterization of ZnO Nanowires for PV Cells 

T. Francis, A. Ueda, R. Aga, Z. Pan, W. E. Collins, and R. Mu (PI) 

Nanoscale Materials and Sensors Group, Department of Physics, Fisk University 

In our currently funded research project, we have proposed a high-efficiency solar cell 

design in which semiconductor quantum dots with several sizes are the efficient absorbers of 

the sunlight, and the positive and negative charge carriers created by the light absorption are 

to be separated and transferred to the electrodes. For the high-efficiency solar cell, ZnO 

nanowires (NWs) are the important building parts that create the charge separation and carrier 

pathways to the electrodes. 

ZnO nanowires were fabricated via vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method, which was recently 

developed with relatively simple equipment [1-3]. In the VLS method, Au small particles are 

used as a catalyst for the nucleation site of ZnO nanowires. As atomically flat substrates, we 

used Si (100) wafers etched with HF solution to remove SiO2 layer. An electron-beam 

evaporator (Thermionics, 100-0030) was used for the thin-film deposition of Au with 

thickness of 2 nm at the vacuum level of ~ 2x10-6 torr. The Au-deposited Si substrates were 

pre-annealed at 800o

C in air for 1 hour to form Au particles from thin films. The source 

material is a mixture of ZnO and graphite powders of 1:1 molecular ratio. The source 

material in an alumina boat was placed at 1100o

C and the substrates were placed at 800oC in a 

quartz tube in a two-zone furnace (Mellen, TS-15) with Ar gas flow. The following chemical 

reaction is assumed to form ZnO nanowires [4]: the graphite reduces ZnO to create Zn vapor, 

and Zn vapor can diffuse into Au particles to form a solid solution of Zn and Au on the 

substrate. Residual oxygen can oxidize the Au/Zn alloy to form ZnO nanowires. X-ray 

diffraction (XRD) measurement was performed to evaluate the crystallinity of ZnO 

nanowires. 

Figure 1a shows an SEM image of ZnO nanowires on a Si substrate, and the size of 

nanowires is 200 nm wide and several μm long. Each ZnO nanowire shows hexagonal crystal 

facets and growth direction was not regulated by the growth condition. Figure 2a shows that 

the Au-deposited region has ZnO nanowires grown, whereas the region without Au deposition 

does not grow ZnO nanowires. Therefore, Au deposition is necessary to grow ZnO nanowire 

for nucleation. 

In (a) Fig. 2, the XRD spectrum of one of 

samples is shown, which indicates the 

sample is crystalline ZnO. The relative peak 

intensities show that the crystal orientations 

are not aligned perpendicular to the substrate 

and it is consistent with the SEM image in 

Fig. 1(a). 

Photoluminesce (PL) from ZnO 

nanowire sample were measured, as the 

sample was annealed in air with increasing 

annealing temperature from room 

temperature up to 1000o

C. The annealing time for each temperature was 20 min. The 

excitation photon wavelength was 325 nm. The center of the green broad band was located 

around 520 nm, and the weak exciton band was located 380 nm, as shown in Fig. 3. The 

green band has been attributed to the defect (the singly ionized oxygen vacancy) [5]; 

100 

Fig. 1 SEM images of ZnO nanowires. (a) The higher magnification of 

ZnO nanowires on a Si substrate. (b) The region with Au deposition 

(top) has ZnO nanowire growth, while the region without Au showed n

ZnO growth. (

o 

 100 nm) 

11
therefore, we expected that the green band would decrease as the annealing temperature 

increased. However, the green band did not significantly change its intensity until the 

annealing temperature reached 800o

C, while the exciton band became weaker. At 900oC, the 

green band became weak, and the exciton band essentially disappeared. It is possible that the 

ZnO nanowires have been destroyed at this temperature (900o

C), although the melting point 

of bulk ZnO is Tm=1975o

C. 

In conclusion, we have fabricated ZnO nanowires on Si substrates by using vapor-liquidsolid (VLS) method or vapor-phase transport process (VPT) by heating the mixture of ZnO 

and graphite powders in a two-zone furnace. However, the conditions to control the shapes 

and orientation of ZnO crystals are not so easy a task. Especially, to make suitable ZnO 

nanowires into high-efficiency solar cells is challenging. We found that the morphology of 

ZnO NWs changed after being annealed at 800o

C. The properties of ZnO nanowires, 

depending on the ambient temperature, will be important for the applications. If these devices 

are used in space such as artificial satellites, the temperature dependence and stability of the 

ZnO nanowires could be an important issue. 

Acknowledgments 

This research is supported in part by NREL/DOE ACQ-4-33623-03, DOD/ARO Contracts of 

W911NF-05-1-0453, -51-1-0040, -04-1-0400, and NSF-CREST. 

References 

[1] H. J. Fan, W. Lee, R. Scholz, A. Dadger, A. Krost, K. Nielsch, and M. Zacharias, Nanotechnology 16, 913 

(2005). 

[2] Y. Xia, P. Yang, Y. Sun, Y. Wu, B. Mayers,B. Gates, Y. Yin, F. Kim, H. Yan, Adv. Mater. 15, 353 (2003). 

[3] J.H. Park, H.J. Choi, Y.J. Choi, S.H. Sohn, J.G. Park, J. Mater. Chem. 14, 35 (2004). 

[4] D. Zhao, C. Andreazza, P. Andreazza, J. Ma, Y. Liu, and D. Shen, Chem. Phys. Let. 408, 335 (2005). 

[5] K. Vanheusden, W.L. Warren, C.H. Seager, D.R. Tallant, J.A. Voigt, B.E. Gnade, J. Appl. Phys. 79, 7983 

(1996). 

10A_0mm

2 theta (deg)

2 0 4 0 60 80 100

Counts per sec

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

2 theta vs 10A_0mm 

300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700

300

320

340

360

380

400

420

440

460

480

500 Exciton Green (Defect)

1000oC 1000o

C

900o

C

900o

C

700o

C

700o

C 800o

C

800o

C

600o

C

600o

C

400o

C

400o

C

200o

C

200o

C

RT

RT

PL Intensity (A.U.)

Wavelength (nm)

(10

(20

(002) (10

1)

(110

(11

(102

(103

) (20

Fig. 2 XRD spectrum of ZnO nanowires. Shortened 

indices were used. 

Fig. 3 Photoluminescence from ZnO nanowires on Si 

wafer as annealing temperature increased. The 

excitation photon wavelength was 325 nm. The 

annealing time for each temperature was 20 min.

12
CdTe Nanoparticles Fabricated by Pulsed Electron-Beam Ablation 

E. Jackson,1 R. Aga, Jr.,1 A. Steigerwald,1 A. Ueda,1 D. Coffey,2 L. Allard,2 Z. Pan,1 W.E. 

Collins,1 and R. Mu (PI)1,

1 Department of Physics, Fisk University, 1000 17th Ave N, Nashville TN 37208 USA 

2

 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge TN 37830-8071 USA 

Solar cell technology has long been dominated by silicon but is now being challenged 

by new concepts based on nanomaterials. This is driven by the need to accelerate the 

development of advanced photovoltaic (PV) materials and designs to achieve appropriate 

levels of cost and efficiency. Affordable and efficient PV technology is the key toward the 

widespread use of clean solar energy. One promising concept for less-expensive PV 

technology is the hybrid design. This often uses an interpenetrating network of electron-donor 

and electron-acceptor nanomaterials, such as a blend of ZnO nanoparticles and conjugated 

polymer. Another concept is the sensitization of wide-bandgap semiconductors. These 

materials can be sensitized by quantum dots (semiconductor nanoparticles exhibiting quantum 

confinement effects) to access the visible or even the near-infrared region of the solar 

spectrum and thus maximizing the sunlight-to-electricity conversion. A very promising 

nanoparticle material for this concept is cadmium telluride (CdTe). It is a direct-bandgap 

semiconductor with an absorption onset at 826 nm, which corresponds to a bandgap energy of 

1.56 eV. CdTe nanoparticles with narrow size distribution can be synthesized by solutionbased methods. In certain applications however, nanoparticles dispersed in solution are 

unsuitable due to possible contaminations. For sensitization, it is desirable to have a good 

electrical contact between the two different materials to minimize energy loss during charge 

injection. Thus, techniques for fabrication and deposition of nanoparticles on solid surfaces 

are necessary. In this paper, we employed the pulsed electron beam deposition (PED) 

technique to fabricate CdTe nanoparticles. Despite being commercialized, PED is not yet a 

well-explored technique for nanoparticle fabrication. This technique may become an attractive 

alternative to PLD. 

Ablation of the CdTe target was performed in a PED system equipped with a channelspark source (PEBS-20) from Neocera. The source has the following specifications: 

background gas pressure (P) = 5-20 mTorr, charging potential (U) = 8-20 kV, and pulsed 

width = ~100 ns. The CdTe target was a 1-inch-diameter disk with 0.125-inch thickness, 

purchased from Lesker. It was properly grounded. The substrates were optical glass and 

silicon (Si) wafer approximately 4 mm x 4mm in size. They were mounted next to each other 

on a substrate holder, which has a variable distance from the target. For this particular work, 

the substrate-to-target distance was fixed around 30 mm. Two values of P were chosen for 

investigation, 11 mTorr and 19 mTorr. For each P, four pairs (a pair is glass and silicon 

substrates) of samples were prepared corresponding to four different U values of 9 kV, 11 kV, 

13 kV, and 15 kV. For each pair, the number of shots was 1000 at 2 Hz. The samples on 

optical glass were characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometer, whereas the samples on Si 

were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy 

(SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). 

The bulk CdTe is black, but the small amount of this material deposited on the glass 

substrates is brownish. The optical transmission (%T) spectra of the samples on glass are 

presented in Fig. 1. For comparison, the %T spectra of glass substrates are also included. It 

can be observed from the figure that the samples fabricated at U = 9 kV have the highest %T 

at 900 nm, but drops significantly at U = 11 kV, especially for P ~ 19 mTorr. When U is 

13
further increased to 15 kV, %T only changes moderately. The %T at 900 nm, which is above 

the absorption onset of bulk CdTe (826 nm), provides qualitatively the amount of material 

that scatter the incident light. It should be noted that the curvature of %T above 826 nm is due 

to the specular reflectance, which is not corrected from Fig. 1. Our results indicate that the 

amount of CdTe deposited on the substrate has a nonlinear increase with U. This is not 

surprising because the pulse energy increases nonlinearly with U. It should be realized that U

determines the average kinetic energy (eU) of each electron in the beam. The background gas 

plays a role in the deposition in two different ways. It can reduce the beam current due to 

electron collision with the gas and it can also moderate the kinetic energy of the plume atoms 

via collision. P has a notable effect in the deposition using 9 keV electrons. In Fig. 1(b), %T 

at 900 nm for U = 9 kV is roughly 88% and this drops to about 70% when P is reduced to 11 

mTorr [Fig. 1(a)]. This suggests a significant increase in the deposited material. However, at 

U values of 11, 13, and 15 kV, the effect of P is not very strong, as observed in the optical 

transmission measurement. All the samples exhibit quantum confinement effects as implied 

from the %T spectra. They have an absorption onset near 500 nm, as shown by the symbols. 

These results are similar to the CdTe nanocrystalline (nc) films fabricated by 

electrodeposition. The CdTe films obtained from this method also showed broad absorption 

onset around 500 nm, with measured average crystal size of about 7 nm. Thus, the PED 

parameters we have employed in this work may also yield the same nc-films. 

AFM, SEM, and EDS measurements were also done and will be presented at the meeting. 

In summary, we have fabricated CdTe nc-films using PED technique that exhibit quantum 

confinement effects. In addition to this nc-film, larger nanoparticles with diameters varying 

from 40 nm to 500 nm were also deposited on the substrate. They are responsible for the 

absorption onset at the bulk bandgap energy. However, they can be reduced at higher 

background pressure. 

11 mTorr 19 mTorr

400 500 600 700 800 900

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

%T

W avelength (nm )

 9 kV

 11 kV

 13 kV

 15 kV

 substrate

400 500 600 700 800 900

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

%T

W avelength (nm )

 9 kV

 11 kV

 13 kV

 15 kV

 substrate

Fig. 2 Optical transmission spectra (%T) of samples fabricated at (a) P ~ 11 mTorr and (b) P ~ 19 mTorr. 

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the financial supports in part by NREL/DOE ACQ-4-33623-

03, DOD/ARO Contracts of W911NF-05-1-0453, -05-1-0040, and -04-1-0400, and NSF-CREST. Research sponsored by the 

Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies, as part 

of the High Temperature Materials Laboratory User Program, Oak Ridge National 

14
North Carolina Central University 

Investigation of Photovoltaic and Thermophotovoltaic Semiconductors 

 at North Carolina Central University

Dr. J. M. Dutta (P1) 

Our primary focus is to train selected students in research in fabricating and 

characterizing various bulk and nanophase photovoltaic materials. Cross-over phenomena of 

going from clusters to nanocrystals to the bulk are another focus of the research. The purpose 

of the program is to facilitate basic research and training in the energy-related technology. 

Over the last few years, at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), significant progress 

has been made in developing a semiconductor research program, supported by the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Over the past few years we have been successful in 

acquiring several high-power scientific apparatus that will considerably enhance on-campus 

research capability for our students and faculty. Brief review of their applications to various 

scientific projects will be discussed, and some of the important results derived will be 

presented. 

One of our objectives has always been to establish an on-campus facility to fabricate 

quantum dots (QDs) and capability to deposit multi-layer thin films by pulsed laser deposition 

(PLD) techniques. For that purpose, the chamber that will be used for the productions of QDs 

and the deposition of thin films has been designed and assembled at this time. A pulsed laser 

and a pulsed electron gun are attached to the chamber and used to sputter a sample to a 

substrate. Progress of this research will be reported, and some of the preliminary results will 

be presented. 

In QD-based photovoltaic (PV) cells, the relaxation dynamics of the photogenerated 

carriers is markedly affected by carrier energy quantization effects that give rise to sharply 

discrete energy spectra of the electron and hole and an enhanced overlap of their wave 

functions. This results in a low threshold current density, high temperature stability of the 

threshold current, higher material and differential gain, and enhanced nonlinear optical effects 

for QD PV cells. In addition, the hot-carrier cooling rates are known to be dramatically 

reduced in spatially confined quantum systems, thus allowing the impact ionization to come 

into play and to enhance the efficiency of the photon conversion by creating at least two 

excitons per one absorbed photon. These intrinsic properties make QD-based solar cells 

sufficiently robust and ideal to design very-high-efficiency solar cell (VHESC) QD-based 

devices of at least 50% solar energy conversion efficiency. 

Our efforts have been focused on developing pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and pulsed 

electron beam deposition (PED) schemes. We focused on these techniques because PLD is a 

proven technique for producing high-quality, size-controlled nanocrystalline materials. QDs 

ranging from 1 to 50 nm, a size range critical for tuning absorption bands of semiconductors 

through the visible and near-infrared region, of both single element and compound 

semiconductors have been successfully produced by PLD. The advantages over competing 

techniques for QD production, including the commonly used wet-chemical synthetic and 

strain-induced (Stranski-Krastanow) growth methods, are: QDs grown by PLD are ultra-clean 

(no precursors are needed for most materials), and there are no extraneous reagents in the 

high-vacuum growth chamber. QDs produced by PLD also exhibit strong quantum 

confinement in three dimensions, as opposed to strain-induced QDs, which typically are 

15
considerably larger in the lateral dimensions than height. PED is a newly emerging 

technology that retains the advantages of PLD, but has potentially lower production costs. The 

physical mechanism of material ablation by PED is a subject of further investigation, 

however, and comparison with PLD-produced nanomaterials also needs a thorough 

examination. Nanoparticles produced by ablation of a silicon wafer target under vacuum 

conditions using the output of a regeneratively amplified, 40 femtosecond pulsed width, 

Ti:Al2O3 laser were collected on Si substrates. Produced particle sizes and densities, 

investigated by AFM, will be discussed. Techniques of pulsed laser production of zero and 

one-dimensional nanostructures will be discussed, and experimental results for high fluence 

pulsed laser production of Si and InAs QDs will be presented. 

Capacitance measurements of depletion layers in semiconductors are widely used in 

characterizing electrically active levels due to the presence of impurities and point defects. By 

time-resolved capacitance spectroscopy and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), 

electronic properties as such levels, activation energy, carrier capture, and emission processes 

can be studied directly. DLTS also gathers information on trap concentrations, and the depth 

profile of the trap concentration. We used DLTS for investigating deep levels in 

polycrystalline edge-defined film-fed-grown (EFG) silicon (low-cost solar cells), as well as 

monocrystaline Czochralski and float-zone silicon. Some of our recent research on EFG 

samples will be presented. 

16
High Efficiency Photovltaic Cells Quantum Dots Program 

at North Carolina Central University 

Dr. Branislv Vlahovic 

North Carolina Central University 

1801 Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC 27707 

*Phone: 919–530–7252; Fax: 919–530–7472; E-mail: vlahovic@nccu.edu 

The REAP program for Photovoltaic Research and Education at North Carolina Central 

University (NCCU) is a multi-disciplinary program that encompasses theoretical and experimental 

research on photovoltaic nanostructured materials and devices. The program integrates modern 

science, advanced research and competitive education. Through NREL support are formed strong 

experimental and theoretical groups with expertise in: (1) theory and computer simulations of 

optoelectronic and thermo-mechanical properties of semiconductor and carbon low-dimensional 

nanostructures; (2) nanostructure formation and characterization; and (3) production of novel highquality nanomaterials and nanoscale devices. Experimental research projects are closely related to the 

theoretical projects. Advanced theoretical models are developed and large-scale molecular dynamics 

simulations together with numerical modeling are performed to predict physical properties and thus to 

provide guidance for the experimental effort. This synergy enables the fabrication of nanostructures 

with well-defined characteristics and optimum device performance at NCCU. The studies of the 

fundamental issues, such as coherent dynamics of optically excited electronic and excitonic states in 

semiconductor quantum dots, current instabilities and entanglement in atomically doped carbon 

nanotubes, open paths for novel applications of semiconductor and carbon nanostructures in 

nanophotonics, quantum information processing and quantum communication technologies. At NCCU 

and collaborating institutions, novel semiconductor and carbon nanomaterials have been produced by 

a number of methods, including ultrafast pulsed laser and pulsed electron beams deposition, straininduced growth techniques, nanopatterning using scanning probe microscopy, nanotemplated 

deposition, and chemical synthesis. At NCCU, nanostructures have been characterized by structural, 

electrical, and optical probes and applied to the development of high-performance novel nanoscale 

devices for NASA needs such as: fast quantum-dot infrared photodetectors with high sensitivity, highefficiency quantum-dot solar cells, and highly selective and sensitive biochemical sensors. 

The PAIR program enhanced the participation of minority students in engineering and 

technology areas, where they are critically underrepresented. Besides fundamental advances in 

nanoscience, the program provided a qualified nanotechnology work force including highly skilled 

minority and socially underrepresented groups. The program expanded academic and research at the 

interface between traditional disciplines, where many scientific opportunities are emerging. It resulted 

in improved graduation rates, especially among African American students, women, and socially and 

economically disadvantaged students, and provided graduates the flexibility in career choices and job 

opportunities. The NASA PAIR program enhanced research support across multiple disciplines at 

NCCU and spurred collaborations in nanoscience throughout the region. An HBCU nanotechnology 

network was created that will increase the opportunities for student participation in advanced research 

and facilitate connection between HBCU faculty and students. Educational improvements arising from 

these activities include: enhancement of Master degree programs and establishment of a physics Ph.D. 

program at NCCU; strengthening of the curriculum for undergraduate students in the STEM 

disciplines, development of an annual two-week summer workshop for high school and undergraduate 

students and faculty; and initiation of a nanotechnology seminar series and outreach activities 

targeting minority communities.

17
Pulsed Laser Fabrication of Zero and One-Dimensional Nanostructures 

M. Wu and B. Vlahovic 

Department of Physics, North Carolina Central University 

Durham, NC 27707 

Zero and one-dimensional nanostructures are increasingly relevant to the development 

of advanced optoelectronic devices. Use of these materials in devices including infrared 

photodetectors, biochemical sensors, and photovoltaics has been predicted to greatly improve 

performance, leading to intensive research in these areas. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) 

presents an intriguing alternative to conventional techniques, such as metal-organic chemical 

vapor deposition or molecular-beam epitaxy, for producing nanostructures for device 

applications. Techniques of nanostructure production using pulsed lasers will be described, 

and experimental results will be presented for high-fluence pulsed laser production of Si and 

InAs quantum dots. We will also present research directions for the near future for pulsed 

laser growth of zero and one-dimensional nanostructures. 

18
Ultrafast Pulsed Laser Production of Silicon Nanoparticles 

W. Yohanes, M. Wu, J. M. Dutta, and B. Vlahovic 

Department of Physics, North Carolina Central University 

Durham, NC 27707 

Use of semiconductor nanoparticles (“quantum dots”) in the active regions of solar 

cells is predicted to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic energy conversion through a 

variety of mechanisms, including multiple exciton generation, formation of intermediate 

bandgaps, and increased optical absorption. These improvements are predicted to occur with 

quantum dots under strong quantum confinement conditions, where the size of the dot in all 

three spatial dimensions is comparable to its bulk Bohr exciton radius. This condition is 

difficult to achieve using conventional growth techniques, such as chemical vapor deposition 

or molecular-beam epitaxy. We report here on the production of silicon nanoparticles by 

femtosecond pulsed laser ablation. Nanoparticles produced by ablation of a silicon wafer 

target under vacuum conditions using the output of a regeneratively amplified, 40 

femtosecond pulsed width, Ti:Al2O3 laser were collected on Si substrates. Laser pulse energy 

density and laser wavelength were varied to assess the effect of these parameters on average 

nanoparticle size and the width of the size distribution, as measured by tapping-mode atomic 

force microscopy. Particle size was found to be strongly correlated with laser pulse energy 

density and distance of the sampling site from the central axis of the plume of ablated 

material. Smaller particles were also observed using ultraviolet (266-nm) pulses than for 

near-infrared (800-nm) pulses. The surface of the target, which was also imaged using atomic 

force microscopy after exposure to single laser shots to investigate the mechanism of 

nanoparticle formation, exhibited nanostructuring dependent on laser pulse energy density. 

19
Southern University and A&M College 

Proton Conducting (PC) Perovskite Membranes for Hydrogen Separation and 

PC-SOFC Electrodes and Electrolytes 

B. Rambabu and Hrudananda Jena 

Solid State Ionics Laboratory, Department of Physics

MURA Participants: Jonathan Dooley, Jashua DuBois, and Ms. Badero Olego 

Dense perovskite membranes made of mixed electronic and protonic conductors provide a 

simple, efficient, and cost-effective means to separate hydrogen from gas streams. High proton 

conductivity has been reported for various perovskite-type oxides such as cerates and zirconates 

in hydrogen/humid atmosphere. However, only a few, if any, satisfy both high protonic 

conductivity and thermodynamic stability that are prerequisites for the application of such 

membranes as successful separators. This paper/presentation deals with the study and 

development of dense, thin ceramic membranes of: 1) proton-conducting perovskites (A2+B4+O3) 

as hydrogen separation membranes, and 2) mixed [electron and H+

] aliovalent ion-substituted 

perovskites (A2+

1-xMxB4+1-yNyO3±δ) as electrode (porous) and electrolyte for proton-conducting 

(PC)-SOFCs. 

The limitations of the perovskites used as electrolytes in PC-SOFCs are: 1) high grainboundary resistance observed in the case of ytteria-doped BaZrO3 (BYZ), which leads to reduced 

ionic conductivity, and 2) stability of the B-cation in the 4+

 oxidation state in cerates, which 

influences the ionic conductivity and structural distortion of the crystal lattice. To overcome these 

limitations, we have adopted novel wet chemical methods of synthesis, including: 1) 

sonochemical, 2) hydrothermal, 3) gel-to-crystallite conversion, and 4) regenerative sol-gel 

methods to achieve nanoparticles for improving sintered density while stabilizing high-symmetry 

single-phase structures (alkali and rare-earth-substituted strontium cerates, composite 

Ba(Zr,Ti)O3) with enhanced proton conductivity at low temperatures. The mechanism of proton 

conduction and the influence of preparation conditions on the microstructure and proton 

conductivity of the A2+B4+O3 perovskites and its doped compositions are reported. 

BaCeO3, SrCe1-xMxO3 compositions were synthesized by sonochemical treatment 

following hydrothermal method, and sintering is done by microwave heating. CeO2-hydrated gel 

was obtained from Ce(IV) ammonium nitrate and mixed with Sr(OH)2 and sonicated for 30 min, 

then the reactants were subjected to hydrothermal treatment at 1500

C for 4 h. SrCeO3 was found 

to form orthorhombic perovskite above 12000

C of heat-treatment. The 10% substitution of 

dysprosium at Ce site does not form a single phase. Instead, Sr2CeO4 is formed along with 

SrCeO3. The electrochemical and surface chemistry, cell testing measurements were performed 

using advanced spectro-electrochemical characterization techniques such as XRD, HRTEM, 

STM, AFM, XPS, EXFAS, CV, and EIS techniques. The effect of ball milling was also studied on 

sintering of the pellets. 

Acknowledgements: BRB acknowledges the support of U.S-DOE-NREL for supporting 

his undergraduate students. Dr. Jena thanks the IGCAR for granting extraordinary leave for 

exchange visitor assignment at Southern University, USA.

20
Proton Transport in Nanocrystalline Bioceramic Materials: An Investigative Study of 

Synthetic Bone with that of Natural Bone 

Hrudananda Jena and B. Rambabu 

Ramsey Saunders 

Health Physics Section, Department of Physics 

University of West Indies–St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad 

MURA Participants during Summer 2006: Jeremy Gilmore and Snowden India 

Hydroxy apatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 (Ca-HAp), is a bio-ceramic and is an alternative 

candidate for stainless-steel and titanium-based materials being used for replacement of 

fractured bones. In this study, an attempt is made to synthesize nano-composites of Ca-HAp 

with varying Ca to PO4 ratio and alkaline earth (Ba, Sr and Mg) doping at Ca-site of the HAp 

by using sonochemical, hydrothermal, followed by microwave, sintering. The powders 

obtained in all these routes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission 

electron microscopy (TEM). The formation of single-phase HAp was confirmed by XRD 

analysis. XRD peak broadening and TEM examination of the powders confirmed the nanocrystalline nature of the powders. The hydrothermal method (autoclave heated at 1500

C) of 

synthesis yielded single-phase powders without further heat-treatment. The urea combustion 

method needed heat-treatment of the pre-cursor at 400o-800oC. The sonochemically treated 

starting materials before proceeding to hydrothermal treatment yielded needle-shaped HAp. 

The needle-shaped nano-rods may be of great importance to fabricate high-strength bone 

material. Electrical transport properties of these compositions were carried out by an ac 

impedance technique. The conductivity of CHAp is observed to be 0.05 mS/cm at 5000

C. The 

measurement of various properties of Ca5Sr5(PO4)6(OH)2, CaMg5(PO4)6(OH)2

CaBa5(PO4)6(OH)2 compositions is to be carried out to find its suitability to justify its use as 

biomaterials for vertebrates. The presence of protons in the lattice has been investigated by 

proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) 

spectroscopy measurements. The structural and transport properties were correlated with the 

natural human bone powder measured under identical experimental conditions. The ordering 

mechanism of hydroxy groups in hydroxy-apatite Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, which is the major 

constituent of mammalian bones and tooth enamel, has been discussed. Apart from its use as 

biomaterials, Ca-HAp may be a candidate for future proton conductors for proton-conducting 

ceramic fuel cell application, as well as the composite electrolyte in direct methanol fuel cells. 

Acknowledgements: BRB acknowledges the support of U.S-DOE-NREL for 

supporting his students at SUBR. Mr. Jena thanks the IGCAR for granting extraordinary leave 

for exchange visitor assignment at Southern University, USA. 

21
University of Texas at Brownsville

Current Status of Tonatiuh—A Computer Program for the Simulation of 

Solar Concentrating Systems 

Manuel J. Blanco,* Gilda P. Jimenez, and Cesar E. Cantu 

Department of Engineering 

The University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, Texas 

manuel.blanco@utb.edu 

 As stated in the Concentrating Solar Power section of the “Solar Program Multiyear 

Technical Plan 2003-2007 and beyond”, many of the existing models used for the technical 

and economic analysis of parabolic-trough and solar tower systems need to be updated and 

validated. This includes models for collector optics and thermal performance, among others. 

 The Tonatiuh software development project is intended to improve the costeffectiveness of solar energy technologies by advancing the state-of-the-art of the simulation 

tools available for the design and analysis of solar concentrating systems. The objective of the 

work that is underway at the Department of Engineering of The University of Texas at 

Brownsville, under a DOE-NREL Minority Research Associate (MURA) subcontract, is the 

design, development, implementation, verification and validation of Tonatiuh, an open-source 

advanced object-oriented Monte Carlo ray tracing program to assist in the design and analysis 

of solar concentrating systems. 

 When completed, it is intended that Tonatiuh, will (a) provide a unifying 

computational paradigm for the simulation and analysis of virtually any type of solar 

concentrating system that may be envisioned; (b) be extremely user-friendly, easy to adapt, 

expand and maintain; and (c) be able to take advantage and efficiently handle any computer 

power available to it. 

 This paper presents the results accomplished in the development of Tonatiuh during 

the two years elapsed since the start of the project. It shows that Tonatiuh is well underway 

not only to fulfill but to exceed all of its promises. Thus, it is expected that, when finished, 

Tonatiuh will become a very valuable tool to assist solar researchers in the design and 

analysis of solar concentrating systems. 

 Some relevant features already incorporated into Tonatiuh addressed in this paper are: 

• Robust computational scheme. Within the framework of geometric optics, Tonatiuh’s 

computational scheme provides models of the concentrating system, the incoming 

solar radiation, and the interactions between both, which are not only very generic and 

flexible but amenable to efficient computational treatment. 

• Clean and flexible software architecture. Among the main features of Tonatiuh’s 

architecture are a complete separation of the GUI from the kernel, and a decoupling of 

the representation of the solar illumination from the geometry. 

22
• Operating System independence. From the same C++ source code, it is possible to 

generate executable versions of Tonatiuh that runs under Windows XP, Mac OS X, 

and several flavors of Linux. 

• Advanced 3D-GUI. Among other things, Tonatiuh’s Graphic User Interface provides 

the user with a three-dimensional, interactive, and realistic view of the concentrating 

system being modeled. 

23
Howard University

An Intelligent Customer Power Management System 

James A. Momoh, FIEE, FNSE, Peter Bofah, Anthony Bantamoi, Eshovo Momoh 

Howard University, 

2400 Sixth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059 

This work focuses on the quality and relationship of power between the customer and 

the utility provider. We propose a system that will monitor and help manage power from the 

customer’s side of the grid and also compiles an index for system implementation. The 

proposed Intelligent Customer Distribution Management System (ICDMS), provides insight 

and information to customers about the power supplied to their homes. Based on power 

quality (PQ), a new index is compiled for the proposed system’s implementation. Harmonic 

distortion, voltage disturbance, and system efficiency (Power Factor) are used for the design 

of the ICDMS index. Harmonic distortion is analyzed based on individual total harmonic 

distortion (THD), voltage disturbance is analyzed by the magnitude of nominal voltage after a 

fault has occurred and system efficiency is based on system losses that are determined 

through power factor of loads, equipment, and the source. To implement the theories for the 

index the software package Neplan© is used for simulation and analysis of the networks. The 

tools used within Neplan© are: load flow calculation, short circuit analysis, and harmonic 

analysis. The networks used for simulation consist of loads, utility generation, other 

equipment, and distributed generators (DG’s-photovoltaic (PV). 

In the wake of the recent technology boom in electronics and appliances more and 

more households and businesses consume high amount of power that can cause overloads and 

disruptions to the power network. The utility company in response to the changes in the 

system must react and control the situations. New technologies on behalf of the utility 

provider are a means to monitor and control come disturbances and changes within the 

network but not all. For some of the fluctuations in the system the customer needs to make 

changes. It is valuable if there is a tool that the customer as well as the utility provider can 

monitor and manage power in a system. Customers being able to monitor and make changes 

to their home power system would help in eradicating some issues with power overloads. It 

can also help everyone to save in energy costs and allow for optimal performance of the 

power network. A proposed system ICDMS will entail applications of power management, 

monitoring, and correction. The system Intelligent Customer Distribution Management 

System (ICDMS) allows the customer to monitor and manage the amount and quality of 

power delivered to their establishment. This requires some guidelines or parameters for the 

user to interpret information collected from the grid. This work details how the index for the 

ICDMS system is compiled based on power quality methodologies. Many methodologies are 

available for determining the quality of power. Some researchers believe that it can be 

determined by the voltage sag magnitude, occurrence, and duration. This method calls for 

monitoring the system for a time period and recording the disturbances, outages, and other 

effects on the system and plotting them using industry standards. Others believe power quality 

can be determined by analyzing the losses in the system from the source to the loads. This 

method can be determined through analysis of the power factor of the network. In other cases 

analyzing the harmonic content of the network can give the conclusion of quality of power in 

24
a network. For this work a compilation of all of these methods were used to extract 

information from the system. 

The objective is to design an Intelligent Customer Distribution Management System to 

aid the customer to pinpoint trouble areas of a power system given a set of measurements. 

There are many observations (measurements) that pass through the customer’s meter that can 

be used to evaluate the performance of electricity supply. The proposed Intelligent Customer 

Distribution Management System is new and innovative technology to aide in the 

management and monitoring of power system networks. The index based on harmonics, 

power factor, and voltage sag can have other parameters added maybe for a more in-depth 

analysis of a power network. The ability to see and make changes when necessary will allow 

for optimal performance of a power network. 

Overall Objective—The main objective for the Center of Energy Systems and Control 

(CESaC) in this project is to develop a research infrastructure in renewable energy to prepare 

students and faculty in modeling, analysis, and management of Photovoltaic/Renewable 

Energy units to sustain our national economy. Our objectives include the review of the state 

of the art models for different PV/Renewable Energy resources and development of models 

for PV and Renewable energy resources using state of the art techniques. We are also 

engaged in evaluation of the performance and accuracy of the developed models, design and 

implementation of a reliable PV based power management scheme in which the evaluation of 

the performance of the PV model performed under different weather conditions and periods of 

the day, and application of control for optimal supply of load under different scenarios. 

Hence, we: 

 Developed PV models using MATLAB SIMULINK to evaluate performance of the PV 

system. 

 Designed and implemented a reliable PV based power model for different weather 

conditions and periods of the day. 

 Designed and implemented control schemes that aim at eliminating violations of the 

power supply quality based on selected indices. 

 Designed a scheme to implement energy management options by a customer with DG and 

other options. This design factors are cost incentive for selecting optimum control 

options. 

The aim of this research is to design an Intelligent Customer Distribution Management 

System to aid in the customer pinpointing trouble areas of a power system given a table of 

measurements. There are many observations (measurements) which pass through the 

customer’s meter which can be used to evaluate the performance of electricity supply. In this 

research we developed several indices for assisting the customer to make choices or assess the 

quality of power delivered. These indices are power factor, total harmonic distortion, voltage 

sag, and power quality. The comparison of these indices to acceptable values is done by 

using NEPLAN software tools for power system simulation and design. The design work 

included modeling of distributed generators (PV- DG’s), development of indices, and 

selection of tools for computing these indices. Using a set of rules, an implementation of 

intelligent customer based PV power load management is explored 

An Integrated PV charging system for mobile phone with fine tuning and packaging 

has been designed and built by the Center with participation from our Energy Expert Systems 

Institute (EESI), a summer outreach pre-engineering program for high school students. 

Mobile phone usage is a common commodity for personal and business contacts. The 

25
function of the mobile phone depends solely on an energy source, without which it is totally 

useless. Our aim this summer is to design a back-up PV charger to replace the main supply 

from the utility. PV energy is a renewable energy source available everywhere, with the 

presence of sunshine. It can easily serve as a charger to power mobile phones for continuous 

usage. 

Our work in this project is to work in groups of 3 to design, build and test a PV 

powered mobile phone charger with the following capabilities and specifications for each 

group. 

Group 1: Evaluate the charging circuit of mobile phone currently in use and determine 

appropriate voltage and design a corresponding PV (solar cell) tracking to supply the circuit 

for continuous supply as appropriate. 

Group 2: Design and build voltage regulating circuit as a component of the charger. 

Group 3: Design the Display Unit using LED to monitor the charging states of the mobile 

phone. 

All Groups put the integrated charging package together for a prototype design and testing. 

References 

1) “Impacts of Distributed Generation on Power System Transient Stability”, by Slootweg 

and King, 2002, pp. 862-865 

2) “Understanding the Potential Benefits of Distributed Generation on Power Delivery 

System”, by Peter Daly and Jay Morrison, pp. A2-3 –A2-5 

3) “Placement and Penetration of Distributed Generation under Standard Market Design”, 

International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems, vol.1, iss.1, 2004, article 1004, 

pp. 4-9 

4) “Design and Implementation of PV Based Power Management Scheme”, by Dr. Momoh 

& Ayo Ishola-Salawu, pp. 2-6 

5) “Survey of Harmonic Distortion from Power Quality Measurements and the Application 

of Standards Including Simulation,” C. Gopalakrishnan, Anna University, India 

6) “Voltage Sag Analysis Taken into account in Distribution Network Design,”P. Heine, 

2001 IEEE Porto Power Tech Conference 

7) “Impact of Voltage Sags in Practical Power System Network,” C. Radhaknighnc 

8) “Three Phase Power Flow for Distribution Systems with Dispersed Generation,” A. Abur, 

14th PSCC June 2002. 

9) Demand-Side Management and Electricity End-Use Efficiency, Anibal T. DE Almeida, et 

al, 1987. 

26
Minority University Research Associates

Studies on Generation of Internal Photoresponse Maps of Si Solar Cells by PVSCAN 

Gilda Jimenez, University of Texas at Brownsville 

Bhushan Sopori, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

Photovoltaic efforts to optimize the performance of solar cells and the silicon wafers 

from which they are made are approaching success with the PVSCAN 5000. In the past, 

mapping the defect parameters of solar cells was complicated and impractical; PVSCAN is an 

instrument that may offer these valuable data. PVSCAN 5000 can map the defects in the 

material, such as dislocations and grain boundaries, laser-beam induced-current (LBIC), and 

minority-carrier diffusion length. Grain boundaries are the boundaries between separate grains 

in multicrystalline silicon. Dislocations are breaks in the crystal pattern within an individual 

grain. Laser-beam-induced current (LBIC) is a technique for mapping photo-response by 

illuminating small areas and measuring current output (alternative EBIC or electron-beaminduced current). Minority-carrier diffusion length, which is the average distance that a 

minority carrier will travel within a semiconductor before recombining, is a key measure of 

performance of semiconductors and solar cells. The next stage in this project is the new 

PVSCAN 6000; this version will have a four times faster response and a double scanning area 

that the former PVSCAN 5000. The new PVSCAN 6000 has to be assembled. The system 

will update its software and make new arrangements in the electrical system. I am assisting in 

developing this new version of the PVSACN 6000 and testing the system performance. 

27
Correlation Between Minority Carrier Lifetime and Minority Carrier 

Diffusion Length Measurement of Silicon Wafers 

Carl Eloi, Central State University 

Bhushan Sopori, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The diffusion length measurement of a silicon wafer is acquired from the surface 

photovoltage (SPV). Surface photovoltage is the result of a surface or insulator charge or 

work function difference detected by a non-contacting probe. In this case, the surface 

photovoltage is created from an optical excitation of the silicon wafer. The diffusion length is 

the mean distance an electron or hole travels before recombining with another hole or 

electron. The minority-carrier lifetime of a silicon wafer is the average time that the electronhole pair (minority carrier) exists before recombination. The method of acquiring this 

measurement is by photo-conductive decay (PCD). The electron-hole pairs are created 

through optical excitation, and the decay is monitored as a function of time following the 

cessation of the excitation. As of this point, the SPV device used to measure the diffusion 

length is repeatable and the readings acquired from the test proved to be accurate for the cell 

measurement. Further testing will be performed to correct the device for measuring silicon 

wafers. The importance of making a correlation between these two measurements is to show 

the following: The values indicate to the manufacturer of silicon wafers how good their 

wafers are with respect to performance. Furthermore, the correlation also produces the 

parameters that control the lifetime and diffusion length of a wafer because the measurements 

correspond to identical properties/characteristics of the wafer (the diffusion length is 

measured in micrometers and the lifetime is measured in microseconds). Overall, this project 

shows the relationship between the SPV machine and the PCD testing device. 

 

28
The Influences of Surface Roughness on the Accuracy of 

 Dislocation Density by Using PVSCAN 

Thurston Melson, Central State University 

Bhushan Sopori, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

This paper describes what we believe is the fastest, most accurate way to measure 

dislocations in silicon materials. PVSCAN is a device that has the capacity to characterize 

silicon solar materials and devices. Light from a laser using 0.630-nm and 0.980-nm 

wavelengths is projected onto a sample, which gives off a reflection that is captured, and the 

average dislocation density is computed. Accuracy in this measurement is very important for 

the photovoltaic industry, because the determination of a batch of samples in the same growth 

strain can be examined. These outputs would help reduce the time and money put into the 

production of high-quality silicon material. PVSCAN creates an image of the sample 

displaying the dislocation distribution based on a color legend that is related to dislocation 

density to avoid handling excessive amounts of data. These color legend areas of each sample 

can be compared and evaluated. In silicon materials, for example, ribbon cells have a surface 

that is not uniformly smooth. PVSCAN should measure the cells with different surface 

roughness with the same accuracy. 

29
Cross-Sectioning for Characterization of a Finished Solar Cell 

Michael D. Speed, Central State University 

Bhushan Sopori, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

This paper describes a new method for the rapid production of cross-sectioning 

samples using single-crystal solar cells. The method consists of taking a 4′′x 4′′ cell, and 

dividing it into a sufficient number of samples that are ready to be mounted and polished. The 

surface area of the polished region is analyzed for characterization of the layers within a solar 

cell. It is shown that: (i) the method is expedited the smoother the edges are on the intended 

end of polishing, and (ii) the total time of polishing each cell is related to edge quality and 

characterization of the layers by a simple linear relationship. An experiment setup is given for 

high-speed, high-quality, damage-free, polished-surface cross sections. Application of this 

technique for chemical mechanical polishing of cross sections is also discussed. 

30
Study of Hydrogen Evolution from SiN:H during Fire-Through Metallization 

Tsega Gebre-Egzi, North Carolina Central University 

Dr. Bhushan Sopopri, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

A SiN coating serves as a perfect antireflection, providing a passivation (deactivation) 

surface or layer to reduce the layer reconfiguration. It acts as a buffer in a contact 

metallization, can be fired to increase the lifetime of the silicon cell, and allows diffusion of 

hydrogen into the cell to deactivate impurities for an improved performance. In impure Si, H 

reacts with impurities. This property decreases the diffusivity and increases the solubility of 

Si and H. When a high-temperature metallization firing is applied, some of the H is released 

from damaged areas and goes back into the Si; the rest escapes to the atmosphere. This 

damaged surface exchanges H with SiN:H and Si. The high-temperature rapid thermal 

processing (RTP) firing heals the damaged layer of the solar cell. Fourier transport infrared 

(FTIR) studies show that firing is preceded by a release of H from the SiN:H surface. As 

discussed earlier, the SiN:H surface may function as an antireflection coating, allow diffusion 

of H to impurities and passivation or deactivation, and provide a buffer for contact or screenprinted metallization. 

31
Studies on Optical Processing for Fire-Through Metallization 

Kenyatta S. Williams, Southern University and A&M College, Graduate 

Dr. Bhushan Sopori, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

In this paper, we thoroughly discuss optical processing for fire-through metallization. 

It is known that firing causes the metal, which is screen printed on a silicon (Si) wafer, to 

interact in certain regions of the Si wafer; however, we will intensely explore the principle 

excitations of controlling the interface of a well-performing cell. This paper offers a brief 

description of the fire-through process; methods of using several light-intensity time profiles 

to fire-through screen-printed metallization on solar cells; measurements of I-V characteristics 

of the cells; and analysis of interface interaction within the solar cell. We will also 

demonstrate how H is transported from plasma to the bulk of the solar cell. Through 

theoretical and experimental verification, we will also conclude what determines a good 

contact and good hydrogen passivation. The focus of this research and paper is driven by the 

analysis of the interactions on the silver-silicon (Ag-Si) interface. Because temperature and 

time are so critical in the firing process, we will thoroughly analyze the relationship between 

the two. 

32
Acknowledgements

The success of the MURA Program would not be possible without the support of the U.S. 

Department of Energy Solar Energy Technology Program, and key members of the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory’s National Center for Photovoltaics. 

The 2006 MURA Summer Students would like to thank the mentors, Larry Kazmerski, Bob 

McConnell, Martha Symko-Davies, Bhushan Sopori, Dan Friedman, and Helio Moutinho, for 

working diligently with each of the summer students and for their continued support of the 

MURA Program. 

We extend a special appreciation to Ms. Syl Morgan-Smith for her facilitation and guidance 

in past conferences to prepare us for this opportunity. 

We would also like to thank the MURA Project Leader and Program Coordinator, Fannie 

Posey-Eddy, for her support and guidance throughout our summer experience and in the 

coordination of the REAP Student Summer Research Program Review Meeting. 

This year’s meeting would not have been possible without the assistance of the coordinators 

of the 16th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Cells and Modules. Therefore, we would like to 

thank Bhushan Sopori and Sandy Padilla for supporting us in integrating our meeting into 

their workshop.

33
Contacts 

Fannie Posey-Eddy 

National Center for Photovoltaics 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard, MS-3214 

Golden, Colorado 80401 

Phone: 303-384-6773 

Email: mailto:fannie_eddy@nrel.gov

Syl Morgan-Smith 

Communications and Public Affairs 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard, MS-1733 

Golden, Colorado 80401 

Phone: 303-384-3001 

Email: mailto:syl_morgan-smith@nrel.gov

Bob McConnell 

National Center for Photovoltaics 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard, MS-3221 

Golden, Colorado 80401 

Phone: 303-384-6419 

Email: bob_mcconnell@nrel.gov

Martha Symko-Davies 

National Center for Photovoltaics 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard, MS-1733 

Golden, Colorado 80401 

Phone: 303-384-6528 

Email: martha_symko_davies@nrel.gov

34
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The DOE-NREL Minority University Research Associates Program (MURA) is an undergraduate research program 

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undergraduate/graduate students perform renewable energy research projects during the academic year with 

principal investigators at their university and are awarded summer internships in industry or at national laboratories 

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many students reach their educational and career goals. The MURA program is open to all minority-serving colleges 

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and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Each university will conduct research in 1-3 areas: Basic 

Research, Photovoltaic Panel Measurement and Testing, and Solar Radiation Profile Study. Expansion to other solar 

energy technologies such as wind, bioenergy, and geothermal will provide additional solar energy project 

opportunities and internships. Students involved in research excel in the classroom learning experience and are 

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