Optical engineering and design is essential for efficient solar energy collection in both photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. This course will will cover fundamental principles of optical design for solar energy applications including anti-reflection coatings, light-trapping, solar-selective coatings and solar concentration. The course will also give students the opportunity to explore advanced applications of optics in solar energy such as nanophotonic enhancement, up and down-conversion and spectral-splitting for very high efficiency solar energy conversion.
The course structure will consist of weekly lectures and in-class journal paper reviews, practical laboratory exercises and computer-based tutorials.
The main topics to be covered will be:
1. Optical properties of semiconductors, dielectrics and metals
2. Optical interactions at interfaces: reflection/refraction/scattering
3. Geometrical optics and ray-tracing
4. Thin film optics and interference
5. Light trapping in thin-film solar cells
6. Concentration optics
7. Introduction to advanced optics concepts including nanophotonic enhancement, spectral splitting, up and down conversion and luminescent concentrators.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Describe and evaluate the importance of optical design and the optical material properties in a range of solar energy applications.
- Identify and apply appropriate optics concepts to model and explain the optical properties of components in solar energy systems.
- Evaluate and compare light trapping schemes for solar cells under different conditions and material constraints.
- Compare different numerical modelling and experimental characterization methods and discuss their use and applicability in specific situations.
- Identify and discuss the predominant research themes within the field of optics for solar energy, and critically evaluate recent research results from the literature.
Indicative Assessment
- Assignments and tutorials: 20%
- Weekly quiz (online): 5%
- Literature review (oral and written): 20%
- Laboratory reports: 15%
- Final exam: 40%
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Workload
- Lectures and in-class activities: 3 hours/week
- Computer-based tutorials and lab-based exercises: approx 10-12 hours per semester
- Students will also be expected to spend an average of 6-7 hours per week on individual study, including preparing journal paper reviews, completing assignments and tutorial exercises, writing laboratory reports, and reviewing lecture material.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Basic optics theory:
• Born and Wolf, Principles of Optics, Cambridge University Press.
• E. Hecht, Optics, Addison-Wesley.
Other relevant texts, including general PV texts:
• G. Smestad, Optoelectronics of solar cells (Full-text available online through the ANU library).
• P. Wurfel, Physics of solar cells, Wiley-VCH.
• M.A. Green, Silicon Solar Cells Advanced Principles and Practice, UNSW Publishing
Assumed Knowledge
- Students are expected to have studied physics or optics at an undergraduate level, although specialist knowledge in optics is not required.
- The course will require some basic programming in matlab.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $3096 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $4146 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3234 | 20 Jul 2015 | 07 Aug 2015 | 31 Aug 2015 | 30 Oct 2015 | In Person | N/A |
