Deposition of luminescent thin films for solar energy applications

Photovoltaic devices are a widely available, long lasting means of generating sustainable energy. Unfortunately, the integration of such devices into society is to date still limited. This is in part due to the much less than optimal efficiency of conversion of sunlight to electricity, but also by the physical limitations of integrating photovoltaic devices into the built environment. In this thesis, efficiency enhancement of solar energy conversion by application of thin film luminescent spectral conversion materials is discussed on the one hand and on the other hand the development of thin film materials for luminescent solar concentration that lead to new means of building-integration of photovoltaic devices. Currently available reports on spectral shifting materials for efficiency enhancement of solar cells is mostly limited to fabricating luminescent powder materials that could possibly serve as spectral shifting materials and modelling the efficiency enhancement. The work that was discussed in this thesis has the common goal of developing experimental methods to make thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering that may be applied as efficiency-enhancing coatings for photovoltaic devices. While the fabrication process is still prone to various complications, magnetron sputtering has proved a viable technique for luminescent thin film deposition