An International Journal Devoted to Photovoltaic, Photothermal, and Photochemical Solar Energy Conversion

Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells is intended as a vehicle for the dissemination of research results on materials science and technology related to photovoltaic, photothermal and photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion. Materials science is taken in the broadest possible sense and encompasses physics, chemistry, optics, materials fabrication and analysis for all types of materials.

Of particular interest are:

Solar Cells, covering single crystal, polycrystalline and amorphous materials utilising homojunctions and heterojunctions, Schottky barriers, liquid junctions and their applications. Also of interest is analysis of component materials, individual cells and complete systems, including their economic aspects.

Photothermal Devices, in the broadest sense, including solar absorber devices, heat storage materials, radiative cooling systems and their applications.

Photoelectrochemical and Photochemical Devices, covering photoelectrodes, photocatalysis, photoconversion and solar desalination systems and their applications.

Optical Properties of materials, including light trapping, texturising, solar concentrators which include imaging and non-imaging optical collectors.

Light Control, including systems for energy efficient architecture and daylighting, chromogenics and smart windows.

The pertinent issues are comprehensive and encompass bulk materials, coatings and thin films and surface treatments, from basic as well as from applications-oriented and manufacturing related perspectives.

Manuscripts of general interest not being suitable for Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells can be submitted to Refocus, which publishes magazine-style feature articles concerning all aspects of renewable energy. Please e-mail David Hopwood, Editor for further details (d.hopwood@elsevier.com) and visit http://www.re-focus.net.

Technical articles not specifically related to the materials aspects of Solar Energy conversion can be submitted to Solar Energy, the official journal of the International Solar Energy Society. For details, visit https://www.elsevier.com/locate/se-online.

This journal welcomes contributions that support and advance the UN's sustainable development goals, in particular SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy)

Special Issue on Solar Thermal Energy Conversion, Storage and Utilization
Submission Date: 2024-12-01

Solar energy is a key element for sustainable heating and cooling and plays an essential role in developing a carbon-neutral building stock, thus providing a fundamental contribution to the achievement of climate targets. Solar thermal technology has great potential to support a carbon-neutral economy as well as contribute to energy efficiency, flexibility through thermal energy storage, reliability and security of energy supply. The growing utilization of solar energy and drives in more critical applications has pushed forward the research in the area of solar thermal power system, solar cooling system, solar desalination, CO2 capture, green fuel production, etc. The special issue of solar thermal energy conversion, storage and utilization is important and urgent.

Guest editors:

    Cancan Zhang, Beijing university of technology, Beijing, China;
    Jinjia Wei, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China;
    Ziye Ling, South China University of Technology, Guangdong, China;

Special issue information:

The special issue will collect original papers, reviews and prospectives to present the state-of-art research on solar thermal energy topics:

    Solar radiation
    Thermal energy conversion technology of solar energy
    Solar water heating
    Solar thermal power
    Sensible thermal energy storage material and systems
    Phase change thermal energy storage material and systems
    Chemical thermal energy storage material and systems

Manuscript submission information:

The journal’s submission platform Editorial Manager® is available for receiving submissions to this Special Issue now. Please refer to the Guide for Authors to prepare your manuscript and select the article type of "VSI: Solar Thermal Energy" when submitting your manuscript online. Both the Guide for Authors and the submission portal could be found on the Journal Homepage here: Guide for authors. 

Timeline:

Submissions close on 1 December 2024

Special Issue on Selected Contributions to the 15th World Conference on Thermophotovoltaic Generation of Electricity
Submission Date: 2024-12-15

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells is publishing a special issue in connection with the 15th World Conference on Thermophotovoltaic Generation of Electricity (Madrid October 1-3 2024).

Thermophotovoltaics (TPV) refers to solid-state thermal-to-electrical energy conversion based on the photovoltaic effect. It is suited for thermal sources operating at temperatures near or above 1000 K, such as waste or stored heat recovery, or solar thermal energy conversion. Given the recent progress in high-temperature materials science, photonics, and growth and processing of III-V semiconductors, a renaissance of research on thermophotovoltaics has taken place over the last decade. The challenges to tackle are indeed multiple, for designing, fabricating, and testing new materials, devices, and systems for TPV applications. The special Issue will cover recent advances in areas relevant to TPV and show that progress follows the anticipated slope towards high efficiencies.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Tailored spectral thermal emission: photonic crystals, resonant emitters, metamaterials, etc.
• Tailored spectral reflection and transmission: optical filters and reflectors, plasmonics, etc.
• High temperature emitters: fabrication and characterization
• Infrared semiconductors: III-V, quantum nanostructures, etc.
• Thermophotovoltaic devices: design, fabrication and characterization
• Thermophotovoltaic applications: solar, space, waste heat recovery, energy storage, etc.
• Novel concepts: near-field thermophotovoltaics, thermo-photonics, hybrid devices, etc.
• Market assessment and exploitation

All submissions will be subject to the quality standards and peer review process of the journal. It is expected to have the full special issue published during the spring of 2025. Early view of papers will be available online as soon as they are accepted.

Guest editors:

    Ignacio Rey-Stolle, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain;
    Alejandro Datas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain;
    Pablo García-Linares, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain;
    Esther López, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain;

Manuscript submission information:

The journal’s submission platform Editorial Manager® is available for receiving submissions to this Special Issue from 1 October 2024. Please refer to the Guide for Authors to prepare your manuscript and select the article type of VSI: Special Issue “TPV Conf. 2024” when submitting your manuscript online. Both the Guide for Authors and the submission portal could be found on the Journal Homepage here: Guide for authors. 

Timeline:

Submission open on 1 October 2024
Submissions close on 15 December 2024