Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2017, Environmental Sciences

The purpose of this research was to determine the best design for a solar array to be located at Miami University to produce all of the University's electricity needs over any given year. Computer simulations were carried out using the NREL PVWATTS online calculator and the NREL System Advisor Model (SAM) which both use the NREL Typical Model Year (TMY) climate data sets. Two primary types of solar arrays were analyzed: fixed position (FP) and single-axis tracking (SAT). Simulations were repeated using varied solar panel tilt angles and array azimuth angles. Hourly expected electricity generation data from simulations was given a dollar value from the hourly rates charged to the University by Duke Energy. Simulations were then compared by hourly total electricity generation and total dollar value to determine the best configurations. Analysis showed that the best configuration for FP solar was a tilt of 31.5° away from horizontal, and an azimuth of 195°S, and a default tilt of 31° and azimuth of 185°S for SAT. The SAT array required 22.1% fewer panels, and 6 more acres. Either array would also save 1,641,813 metric tons of carbon emissions. Financial analysis found a PPA to be the most economically feasible option.

Master of Science in Engineering (MSEgr), Wright State University, 2014, Mechanical Engineering

Agriculture is a significant measure of an economy for a number of countries in the world. Currently, the agriculture sector relies heavily on conventional sources of energy for irrigation and other purposes. When, considering factors such as increasing costs of fossil fuels and extending new power lines, especially to remote locations where grid electricity is either inaccessible or expensive, a solar PV (photovoltaic) irrigation system can be an effective choice for irrigating farmland. Solar power eliminates the need to run electrical power lines to remote agriculture locations, which quickly turns the monetary equation in favor of solar irrigation over grid-powered irrigation. In addition, the cost of delivering fossil fuels to remote locations can be expensive. Solar power is ideal for agricultural irrigation, as most irrigation is required when the sun is shining brightly. Consequently, a PV powered irrigation system is a promising technology that could help meet the irrigation needs of remote agricultural. The two major goals of this research are to get an existing solar PV irrigation system working and to acquire experimental data using this system under various operating conditions. This research work is built upon a series of three senior design projects. These three senior design projects were to design and construct a solar irrigation system, an instrumentation system for this solar irrigation system, and a single axis solar translator. Specifically this thesis work entailed getting the instrumentation system to work properly, writing a LabVIEW program to automatically acquire data from installed sensors, integrating all three of these senior design projects into one PV irrigation system, getting the PV irrigation system installed on the roof of the Russ Engineering Building, and collecting a large amount of data on the system. All have been accomplished successfully. The PV irrigation system work presented in this thesis use two 224 watt PV modu (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2014, Physics

Third generation quantum dot solar cells are one of the promising sources of clean energy. However, poor eciency is a major issue; they are in a positive direction of optimization. To optimize their performance, we should select the materials which can absorb more light radiation in visible and infrared regions. To this regard, the gold plasmonic enhancement shows a promise to improve the eciency of photovoltaics. Here, we report a solution process of depleted heterojunction PbS solar cells in the presence of gold nanoparticles. In our experiment, the solar cells show a better absorption and eciency in the presence of the Au nanoparticles. The fabricated solar cell in the addition of Au nanoparticles has the average efficiency of 4.15%, where as the solar cell without plasmons has the average effieciency of 4.00%.

Master of Science, University of Akron, 2023, Polymer Science

In the realm of perovskite solar cells, there has been a substantial rise in research focusing on organic-inorganic halide perovskites (OIHPs) in recent years. This is owing to remarkable progress in single junction OIHPs' power conversion efficiency (PCE), which has improved from 3.8% in the initial prototype built in 2009 to a current state-of-the-art value of approaching 26%. However, the weak bonding of the organic components in the hybrid crystal structure has made the OIHPs chemically unstable and susceptible to degradation caused by humidity, ultraviolet light, and heat. This is a major challenge that must be addressed for them to be suitable for industrial-scale production. In response to this challenge, alternative materials, such as inorganic cesium-based metal halide perovskites (CsPbX3, X = I, Br, or mixed), have attracted significant interest. These materials have shown great promise in terms of their power conversion efficiency (PCE), with some achieving PCE values exceeding 20%. Among these inorganic materials, CsPbI2Br stands out as a promising candidate due to its suitable bandgap and stable phase under operation conditions. However, the significant voltage deficit in inorganic CsPbI2Br-based PSCs, particularly in the inverted structure, remains a challenge for further PCE enhancement. This study presents a simple and effective approach to improve the performance of inverted all-inorganic CsPbI2Br-based PSCs by leveraging unreacted metal halide (PbI2) to passivate grain boundaries in the bulk perovskite film. The CsPbI2Br solar cells with an optimized excess of PbI2 exhibit reduced voltage deficits, boosting the open-circuit voltage from 1.04 V to 1.18 V, resulting in a PCE of 13.19% for inverted CsPbI2Br PSCs. Furthermore, the devices demonstrate improved long-term and thermal stability compared to the pristine devices. This approach holds promise for the development of inorganic perovskite solar cells with superior performance and stability, circu (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science in Renewable and Clean Energy Engineering (MSRCE), Wright State University, 2020, Renewable and Clean Energy

At the present time, using wind and solar energy for producing electricity in the United States is becoming cost competitive. According to Lazard's 2019 [36] levelized cost of energy (LCOE) analysis of a number of energy sources used for producing electricity in the United States, wind and solar are cheaper than natural gas and coal. While capital, maintenance, operation, and fuel costs are included in LCOE numbers, energy source intermittency is not. Intermittency is an important issue with wind and solar energy sources, but not with natural gas or coal energy sources. Combining wind and solar energy sources into one electrical generating station, is one means by which the intermittency of the electricity provided by wind alone and solar alone can be reduced. The combination of wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels into a wind-solar farm can produce electricity over a greater fraction of the day or year than wind or solar alone. Predicting the energy output of different combinations of wind turbines and solar panels in a wind-solar farm is an objective of this work. While yearly electricity production rates are an important and necessary part of this work, this quantity does not provide a means to compare the wind-solar farms to each other, to a pure wind farm, to a pure solar farm, or to meeting a given electrical demand by purchasing all electricity from the local electrical grid. An economic analysis has to be performed to do this. This is the ultimate objective of this work. The economic analysis done in this work determines the net present cost of providing a specified electricity demand by a wind-solar farm with grid backup. Including grid purchased electricity to meet demand that cannot be met by the wind-solar farm is essential in this economic analysis. This sets the net present cost of providing all the electricity demand by grid purchased electricity as the cost that must be beat by a wind-solar farm with grid backup. Using grid (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Sciences (Engineering), Case Western Reserve University, 2020, EMC - Mechanical Engineering

In this thesis, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells were studied for the manufacturing processes, material consumed, energy consumed and carbon dioxide emissions. Throughout the processes of forming, cleaning, sputtering, coevaporation and chemical bath deposition, it is found that manufacturing a square meter of an entire CIGS panel, with a weight of 6.27 kg, consumes 157 kg of water, 5.95 kg of methanol, 2.97 kg of acetone, and 0.453 kg of panel layers' material and the reactants needed during deposition, consumes 139 kWh of energy, and generates 130 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions. The application of the CIGS solar cells on a solar-powered commuter car operating in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Phoenix as three representative locations was modeled and analyzed. The actual solar irradiance in Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Phoenix was considered in the analysis to calculate the solar power availability, daily distance capacity, total charging time, and the viability for commutes. Numerical analysis focusing on the solar panels rather than the whole vehicle showed that the energy payback time of the panels ranges from 113 to 183 days across the three locations. Compared with grid-based electric vehicles, the carbon dioxide payback time is 279 to 361 days. The carbon dioxide emissions from the CIGS solar panels is approximately 3.96 g/mile, in comparison with the grid ranging 40 to 52 g/mile. This study shows that employing solar panels to power electric vehicles has great potential in reducing the carbon footprint of electric vehicles.

Master of Science in Renewable and Clean Energy Engineering (MSRCE), Wright State University, 2016, Renewable and Clean Energy

Solar Energy is a renewable energy source which is used widely in recent times. Photovoltaic panels collect the sun's energy and convert it to electricity. Photovoltaic panels are being widely used in both domestic applications, commercial applications, and small-scale power generation applications. Photovoltaic panels are easy to install, they generate most of their power when electrical demands peak, prices of photovoltaic panels are dropping rapidly, photovoltaic panels require low maintenance, their operating costs are minimal, and they are highly suitable for remote applications. The amount of electricity produced by photovoltaic panels depends on the amount of sunlight the panel captures. The orientation of the panel relative to the sun's rays is an important consideration in optimizing this energy collection. This thesis deals with developing analytic equations that determine the optimum orientation of solar panels including the effects of a clear-atmosphere. This is done for three types of tracking: two-axis tracking, single, horizontal east-west axis tracking, and single, horizontal north-south axis tracking. While doing a literature search on the development of analytic equations that determine the optimum orientation of solar panels, it was found that Braun and Mitchell were the first to develop the equations that determine the optimum orientation of solar panels using the three types of tracking mentioned above. They developed these equations assuming there is no atmosphere on earth and that there is no reflection of the sun's rays off the earth's surface. Thus, the only component of solar radiation that they considered was that coming in a straight path from the sun to the earth, this is called beam radiation. The no-atmosphere optimum solar panel orientation equations have been around for decades and they are in many textbooks on solar energy. At this time, it appears that analytical relationships that account for the effects of the atmosphere on t (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2014, Chemistry

Organic photovoltaic is a promising technology for solar energy harvesting. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of solution-processed bulk heterojunction (BHJ) cells has reached over ~10%. Fullerene and its derivatives have been the most investigated acceptor. However, fullerene derivatives have disadvantages: (i) weak absorption in visible and near-IR range, (ii) limited energy tunability. Promising alternative non-fullerene acceptors are limited, and the best efficiency achieved so far is ~5%. In this study, we used azadipyrromethene (ADP) as the building block to synthesize a series of electron acceptors. ADP derivatives are strong chromophores with strong absorption around ~ 600 nm. They are electro-active materials with two reduction peaks. Their optoelectronic properties can be tuned upon structural modifications. In this work, we synthesized a series of 3-dimensional (3D) conjugated homoleptic Zn(II) complexes of ADP dyes. The degree of conjugation in ADP was extended by installing phenylacetylene, ethynylthiophene and thiophene groups at the pyrrolic positions of the ADP core using Stille coupling. 3D structures of these molecules were synthesized by chelating with Zn(II). These new molecules showed broad intense red to near-IR absorption with onsets around 800 nm. The estimated LUMO energy level of Zn(II) complexes ranged from -3.60 to -3.85 eV. Their strong acceptor properties were demonstrated by fluorescence quenching experiments using poly(3-hexylthiophene) as the donor. These metal complexes quenched the fluorescence efficiently in both solutions and film. DFT calculations showed that all the metal complexes have distorted tetrahedral structures, with additional conjugated `arms' extending in 3 dimensions. A unique feature of these complexes is that the two ADP ligands are p-stacked with each other, with frontier molecular orbitals delocalized over the two ligands. These complexes can therefore easily accept electrons, delocalize the negative char (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2012, Physics

As Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) technology has proven itself to be a worthy solar cell technology, research efforts have redoubled to explore ways to enrich the already mature technology or create spin-offs of the technology with specific goals for manufacturing in mind. CIGS technology is now at an efficiency and production level that is competitive with other second generation solar cell devices and c-Si. Further research in CIGS allows for a toolbox of new ideas to try in the technology. This work aims at that goal by generating and presenting many ideas on how that may be possible. Primarily, this work contains information concerning the improvement of the manufacturing process using a hybrid sputter deposition chamber for scaling up and allowing for easy in situ monitoring using ellipsometry. It also explores the possibility of the addition of Ag to enhance and control device behavior and properties, and investigates the concept of a two-stage process with a co-sputtering deposition chamber. Monitoring of Ag in situ and in real time was explored to possibly improve the back contact of solar cells that use Ag as a back contact (not necessarily CIGS) and as a potential precursor for nanocrystals.time was explored to possibly improve the back contact of solar cells that use Ag as a back contact (not necessarily CIGS) and as a potential precursor for nanocrystals.

Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, University of Toledo, 2005, Electrical Engineering

This dissertation provides the first detailed description of the fabrication of flexible, monolithically interconnected photovoltaic sub-modules based on triple-junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) cell technology. There are several problems encountered when progressing from small area (0.25 cm²) solar cells to series interconnected modules that are three orders of magnitude larger in area. This work involved the development of techniques required to overcome some of those problems, and the application of these in order to successfully fabricate triple-junction a-Si based solar sub-modules 10 cm x 30 cm (4"x12") in size. The solar cells were fabricated on Kapton-VN and Upilex-S polyimide films. Polyimide films were chosen because polyimides have the highest thermal and dimensional stability of any polymer commercially available in film form. Chromium or molybdenum tie-coat layers were introduced between the polyimide and back-reflector films in order to improve film adhesion, which is otherwise unsatisfactory. An improved electrochemical shunt passivation process (light assisted shunt passivation) was developed and used to passivate shunts in the cells. Shunt passivation is especially important for larger area solar cells. A combination of laser (dry) and wet chemical processing was used for the series interconnection. A laser-weld based interconnection scheme was chosen, for its compatibility with the shunt passivation process. The cells were encapsulated with the terpolymer THV (St. Gobain) and Tefzel (Dupont), using a vacuum laminator that was specially built for this purpose. To summarize, triple-junction-amorphous-silicon-based, series interconnected photovoltaic submodules of size 10 cm x 30 cm were fabricated on lightweight and flexible substrates. The modules have an aperture area of approximately 200 cm2. An initial AM1.5 efficiency of 4.75% (5.34% in natural sunlight) was obtained for a module with an aperture area of 204 cm². The specific power of this modul (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2024, Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this work is to analyze and characterize solid granular media in high temperature CSP applications. This work expands on commercially available Discrete Element Method (DEM) modeling software, Aspherix®, through development of two calibration templates designed to mimic both the experimental rigs for the slump test and rotary kiln discussed in this thesis. Whereas, designed experimental rigs were developed to isolate desired frictional behaviors in three different material types (CarboBead HSP, CarboBead CP, and Granusil) for temperatures varying from 25°C – 800°C. Additionally, improvements were made upon the previously constructed rotary kiln to facilitate high temperature testing experimentally.

Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2023, Aerospace Engineering

The main objective of this project is to investigate the performance of Phase Change Materials as the Heat Exchange media in a solar thermal propulsion system. The secondary objective is to visualize and develop the solar thermal propulsion system by running various ground tests using a solar simulator as power source. The project involves design, modelling and fabrication of a bench scale Solar Thermal Propulsion System that can be used to carry and deliver satellites to Moon or Mars' orbit from LEO. PCM's are essential for space travel since the solar energy needs to be stored for the spacecraft to successfully complete the interplanetary missions which consume time and fuel. Without the energy storage system, the spacecraft might need to use conventional fuel ignition systems, which cost money to manufacture and implement in the spacecraft. In this system, the energy from solar light is concentrated into a small cavity through a parabolic reflector and is used to heat the PCM, which in turn heats the propellant and directs it through the nozzle to provide thrust adequate to travel in space. The prototype of the system is first designed using a CAD software and later fabricated into a bench scale model. The model is then set up in the laboratory and connected to a high flux solar simulator. Computational simulations and some test runs of the physical model would be conducted to analyze the performance of PCM in this system

Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2023, Mechanical Engineering

A novel, low cost, high flux solar simulator has been designed and built for the University to be able to undergo research on systems that need testing under high temperature solar irradiation. This simulator will feature four 2500W metal halide bulbs focused with elliptical reflectors, as well as one horizontally translating central 3000W Xenon short-arc lamp with a parabolic reflector and a convex lens acting as a secondary concentrator. To aid in the design, alignment, and characterization of the simulator a detailed Monte Carlo Ray Tracing suite has been developed. These models show that the simulator can produce a flux of 4.5kW/m^2 or around 4500 suns.

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Engineering and Applied Science: Electrical Engineering

Solar Thermoelectric (TE) uses thermoelectric modules to absorb radiative energy given off by the sun and convert it into electricity. While its main competition, photovoltaic panels boast an efficiency of around 20%, solar TE panel can only muster around 5-7 % efficiency. This reason along with high material and manufacturing cost has been the cause as to why solar TE has not been extensively explored as an alternative solar energy harvester so far. However, due to the increasing effects of global warming, alternative sources of harnessing energy such as solar TE have been more closely researched. In the past decades, scientists have synthesized new TE materials that have shown great promise in increasing efficiency and power output, surpassing even the properties of Bismuth Telluride-based alloys, which have been widely used for low-temperature TE applications due to having one of the best efficiencies and power output available in the temperature range. This new materials discovery promises a great new technological innovation for the field of thermoelectric for years to come, but there are not many tools currently available that can simulate the effect of harnessing solar radiation using these materials. The Concentrating Solar Thermoelectric Generator Tool developed in the work takes advantage of the ever-developing world of thermoelectric materials by inputting users' newly developed or already known thermoelectric properties into the simulation. By using the users' own data, a power output and efficiency can be presented with varying independent variables: the cross-sectional area and thickness of the TE element, solar concentration, and fractional coverage while also taken into consideration the optical parameters and emissivity of the grey surfaces and heat transfer, amongst other data for an ideal optimization of solar TE design. This tool is intended to bridge the gap between the theoretical and experimental by introducing a way that scientists (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2022, Mechanical Engineering

This work further investigates a novel concentrating solar thermal desalination process using a dual tank system, which addresses one of the biggest challenges in wider adoption of solar applications: 24-hr dispatching of solar energy. Direct use of solar energy only during daily sun hours might be acceptable on a small scale, but not economically viable on a larger scale. In this study, a complete once through multi-stage flash (MSF-OT) desalination plant powered by solar thermal energy was modeled using the TRNSYS modeling environment. The model results are in good agreement with previous general studies, but the novelty here is development and use of a component-based, dynamic simulation model of the entire desalination plant, which more accurately represents real situations, and allows parametric analyses of important design variables such as the number of stages, top brine temperature, operating pressures, and solar concentrator area. System improvements relative to previous studies included use of series/parallel configuration of the solar concentrator array, and improved thermodynamic modeling of vacuum pressures in flashing tanks, and the addition of a heat recovery section for brine preheating. As a result, the size of the solar concentrator array can be reduced by 54% relative to previous studies, and based on a detailed economic analysis, the water price can be reduced by nearly 15% to $ 2.33/m3 .

Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (MSMSE), Wright State University, 2021, Materials Science and Engineering

Methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) has garnered attention due to their high solar cell efficiencies and low cost to manufacture, but commercialization is not yet possible owing to poor environmental stability. Thus, researchers seek ways which optimize the performance of the MAPbI3 solar cell by modifying the architecture and through interfacial engineering of the charge transport layers. Difficulties in understanding these devices arise from ion migration, charge separation and recombination, and metastable, thermally active precessions of the methylammonium (MA) moiety in the lead iodide framework. In this work, focus is given to the perovskite and an adsorbed monolayer, 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorothiophenol (C6F5SH), which has demonstrated to increase environmental stability and solar cell efficiency when placed at the perovskite/hole transport layer interface. Utilizing a first principles approach, the interface of MAPbI3 and C6F5SH is explored using various metastable methylammonium orientations to understand the relative stability, electronic properties, bandgap, and infer impact on solar cell performance.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Electrical and Computer Engineering

The solar energy industry has been growing rapidly due to decreasing costs of manufacturing and increasing panel efficiencies. As the industry dominant crystalline Si solar cell technology approaches its fundamental efficiency limits, new strategies for achieving higher efficiency while maintaining low cost is a necessity to continue the industries growth. The only demonstrated way to surpass the fundamental single junction efficiency barrier is through the use of multijunction photovoltaic cells. The multijunction cell architecture splits the solar spectrum to be absorbed by two or more different semiconductor materials with the highest energy photons being absorbed by the wider bandgap top cells, and lower energy light being absorbed by the narrower band gap bottom cells. This technology has been very successfully demonstrated in the III-V materials system and scaled by the space solar industry; however, terrestrial power generation has much stricter requirements on production cost than the space solar industry. Thus, arises the potential for an interesting marriage of technologies. Imagine combining the highly scaled Si manufacturing infrastructure, the low-cost Si wafer materials, and high efficiency III-V multijunction cells. This is the precise combination present in III-V/Si tandem solar cells. To date, two fabrication methods, mechanical stacking and surface activated wafer bonding, have demonstrated impressive 3-junction solar cells with efficiencies of 35.9%[1] and 34.1%[2] respectively. The issue is that these techniques are not largely considered scalable for terrestrial scale power generation; however, these prototype devices demonstrate great promise for this III-V/Si device architecture. The most scalable method of III-V/Si integration is through the use of epitaxy to monolithically integrate the III-V and Si solar cells; however, this approach can lead to defect formation due to differences in the lattice parameter, crystal structure, and th (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2020, Physics

Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells have attracted great attention because of the demand for low cost renewable energy sources. Detailed information on electronic properties, such as doping, defects, gap states…etc, must be fully understood to develop the technology of solar cells. Here, we report the fundamental electronic properties of two distinct materials systems, one is based on polycrystalline cadmium telluride (CdTe) and the other is lead-halide perovskite solar cells. This investigation provides useful information to understand the fundamental nature of single junction solar cell device and material. First, we investigate the impact of back surface treatment method for cadmium sulfide (CdS)/CdTe solar cells using hydroiodic acid (HI) etching to provide an appropriate electrical back contact. The structural properties of CdTe films and electrical properties of the CdTe absorber and interfaces are characterized. Using capacitance-based techniques with the support of current–voltage measurements, we show that the barrier height of the back contact is reduced, apparent doping concentration is increased, and a defect level at 0.409eV is eliminated after the HI-treatment. More importantly, the CdTe device performance is improved. This improvement is still limited by many factors. One factor is the device window layer that limits the current generation. Therefore, we replaced CdS layer by wide bandgap material, ZnMgO (ZMO). We noticed that the electrical properties of CdS/CdTe and ZMO/CdTe solar cells depend on both buffer material and the fabrication atmosphere. Using capacitance spectroscopy-based techniques, we show that CdS/CdTe solar cells have negligible front contact barriers regardless of the fabrication atmospher, while ZMO/CdTe devices show obvious front barriers are dependent on the fabrication atmosphere. Both CdS/CdTe and ZMO/CdTe solar cells have significant back contact barriers. Additionally, we find that the energy level of defects in CdS/CdTe cells (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (MSMSE), Wright State University, 2018, Materials Science and Engineering

Solar technology has a long history of incremental improvements in cost, reliability and efficiency. However, solar cells based on lead halide perovskite films have made more rapid leaps forward in the past 10 years, making it the fastest growing solar technology in terms of efficiency. Leaders in academia and industry continue to find success in overcoming manufacturability and stability issues, but have not yet discovered a high-efficiency perovskite film without the use of toxic lead. Probing less toxic analogs to the highly efficient lead halide, a series of thin films with perovskite structures, i.e. A2BB'X6 where A = Cs or FA, B/B' = Sn, Bi, Sb, Ag, and/or In and X = I, are fabricated using a mixed metal approach. XRD patterns reveal the low dimensional A3Bi2I9 crystal. UV/Vis spectra results show that the bandgap of bismuth-based perovskites is finely tuned, which has potential applications in future solar cells.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Electrical and Computer Engineering

III-V multijunction solar cells (MJSC) are capable of the highest conversion efficiencies among all solar cell classifications. These devices are thus of major interest for both terrestrial and space applications. However, the economics of the terrestrial and space markets leads to significantly different design requirements for III-V MJSCs to become more economically viable in each market. In the terrestrial market, despite their high efficiency, the high manufacturing cost of III-V MJSCs currently limits their applicability in a market that is currently dominated by crystalline silicon. Thus, lower cost III-V MJSC approaches must be developed for them to become more competitive. This intuitively leads to the concept of merging III-V MJSCs with Si solar cells to demonstrate III-V/Si MJSCs. Such an approach simultaneously takes advantage of the high conversion efficiency of III-V MJSCs and the low-cost manufacturing of Si. In the space market, III-V MJSCs are already the dominant technology due to their high efficiency, radiation hardness, and reliability in extreme conditions. However, new III-V MJSC approaches must be developed if they are to push the boundary of conversion efficiency even further. An approach to improve the efficiency and thus economic viability is through the use of additional high-performance sub-cells at optimal bandgaps to more ideally partition the solar spectrum. Although the design requirements for improving the economic viability of III-V MJSCs in the terrestrial and space markets differ drastically, the design of III-V MJSCs can be altered to meet the design requirements for both markets by using the versatile technique of III-V metamorphic epitaxy. This is the growth of relaxed (i.e. unstrained) III-V compounds at a lattice constant that differs from that of the substrate. The major advantage of III-V metamorphic epitaxy is that it provides an additional degree of freedom for III-V MJSC device design. Traditional lattice-matche (open full item for complete abstract)