Specification of Micro-Nanoscale Radiative Patterns Using Inverse Analysis for Increasing Solar Panel Efficiency

This work proposes a comprehensive and efficient optimization approach for designing surface patterning for increasing solar panel absorption efficiency using near-field radiation effects. Global and local optimization methods, such as the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno quasi-Newton (BFGS-QN) and simulated annealing (SA), are employed for solving the inverse near-field radiation problem. In particular, a thin amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar panel with periodic silver nanowire patterning is considered. The design of the silver patterned solar panel is optimized to yield maximum enhancement in photon absorption. The optimization methods reproduce results found in the previous literature but with reduced computational expense. Additional geometric parameters, which are not discussed in previous work, are included in the optimization analysis, further allowing for increased absorption enhancement. Both the BFGS-QN and the SA methods give efficient results, providing designs with enhanced absorption. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4006209]