The particular interest in alternative energy is the research of direct conversion of solar energy into hydrogen fuel. The paper deals with the solution of the main problems of the development of hydrogen energy, include low corrosion resistance of the electrodes on the basis of traditional materials for the photolysis cell, low conversion efficiency of solar energy in the active area of the semiconductor anode. Moreover, the paper presents a broad scientific interest in terms of studying the properties of new nanomaterials and their use in alternative energy (solar and hydrogen).

Ag and Ag-LCC films (linear-chain carbon) were synthesized on glass-ZnO substrates, reflectance spectra in the red and near infrared regions were compared and an increase of reflection in the case of the carbon film was shown. All this requires further study of these materials as rear reflectors for tandem silicon photovoltaic modules. It is noticed a slight change in the surface topology and roughness of the surface layer.

The article studies the static transformer of direct current voltage in three-phase with a frequency of 50…400 Hz. This instrument allows engineers to provide rather well a home three-phase network in a house or small enterprise where main power supply is solar energy. The device has the simple structure, adjustment and good maintainability. The whole element basis is of a domestic production. Construction of this instrument was collected and tested in Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev. It shows the considerable results. All electrical part was simulated in a packet of “Multisim NI”.

The paper presents the technology for creating a knowledge-based system of solar power plants by means of using monitoring data of the small solar power plant and data mining techniques. Moreover, the paper describes the multifactor computational models to calculate a power of solar power plants in various environments, and analysis the prospects and priorities for further research.

The article describes the results of monitoring of the network solar power plant and shows the results of the data verification for solar power plant generation energy per year on the basis of climatic data (kWh) to Cheboksary from NASA SSE database and the values of the power generation. The comparison with averaged data of generated energy by network solar power station for 2012−2015 years has shown good forecast accuracy.

The paper presents some monitoring results of the stand-alone PV system over a two-year period of operation. The structure and basic principles of the experimental PV plant monitoring system as well as a list of registered parameters are described. The verification results of solar radiation data from the NASA SSE database and the values of total solar radiation incident on the PV module’s surface are shown. These results were obtained in the PV experimental operation on the basis of the Renewable Energy Research Laboratory of theLomonosovMoscowStateUniversityduring 2013–2014. The characteristics of the engineering methodology for assessing performance of the PV system, used in the work, were described. The comparison of the calculated and experimental results confirms the adequacy of the methodology. The paper shows a number of aspects found during the PV system trial operation, which are essential for the PV system and monitoring system operation.

The laboratory of solar photovoltaic modules VIESH proposed the using in solar photovoltaic modules as a filler-sealer the polysiloxane gels, which are rarely linked structure formed during hydrosilyсation. Significant increasing the service life of solar modules at the level of the nominal power, their stable operation with concentrators and reduction of energy consumption is provided by using bicomponent polysiloxane compound as the aggregate material, which solidifies in the presence of a platinum catalyst to a state of low modulus gel. The paper deals with the technology and installation, developed in VIESH, for sealing of solar photovoltaic modules with the two-fold increased service life of solar modules at the level of the nominal power compared with the standard laminate solar modules.

The paper deals with the multifactor computing models, summarizing the results of experiments on the development of photosensors based on thin films of metals and nanofilms of linear-chain carbon, which are created by using artificial neural networks. These models allow engineers to solve the direct and inverse problems of creating of photosensors with desired characteristics, as well as to predict the new technology to create ones.

The present work investigates the influence of the post-growth technology on solar cell photovoltaic characteristics. Moreover, it researches the various methods of chemical wet etching of multi-junction GaInP/GaAs/Ge solar cell mesa structures. The paper pays attention to the analysis of the initial dark current-voltage characteristics and the influence of the post-growth technology on the solar cell efficiency. It suggests the method of one-step separation etching of the mesa structure providing its smooth side surface, a reliable passivation, good stability of characteristics and high conversion efficiency of concentrated solar radiation. As a result of the research, it has been established that application of the proposed method for forming mesa multi-junction solar cells allows reducing the surface leakage current, improving the quality of passivation mesa side surface of a chip and, consequently, increasing the yield of multijunction solar cells up to 90–95% with an efficiency greater than 35% at sunlight concentration C = 10...100. The technology of one-step separation etching reduces the number of operations, the manufacturing cost of the chips and improves the reliability of the solar cell operation.

The paper deals with the study of high-voltage matrix solar modules. The high-voltage solar module with two-sided working surface is in the form of a matrix of switched miniature solar cells, in which one or two linear dimensions are comparable with the diffusion length of minority carriers in the base region, and the plane of p-n junctions are perpendicular to the working surface of the high-voltage solar module. Using high-voltage solar modules together with solar radiation concentrators markedly improves the electrical characteristics of the solar cells compared to the work without a concentrator. Third generation high-voltage matrix solar modules with efficiency of 20-24 % were designed and manufactured in the experimental area of the process of the VIESH and tested under concentrated solar radiation in National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kharkov, Ukraine.

The article summarizes the methods of solar simulators adjustment (calibration) in measuring current-voltage characteristics of the full-sized multi-junction photovoltaic modules. There is substantiated a choice of the method for adjustingthe parameters “irradiance” and “spectral irradiance” with using single-junction and multi-junction reference photovoltaic modules. The advantages of using this method in mass-production are underlined.

The paper presents the mechanism of absorption of dual laser pulse radiation by thin film of the ZnO, a-Si:H-based solar module. The authors of this paper theoretically justify the possibility of using mode of dual laser scribing of thin-film solar module (TFSM) at production stage and consider implementation of TFSM dual laser scribing. The duality is created by an additional channel of single laser pulse delay. Optic fiber serves as the delay channel. Moreover, the authors analyze the absorption of the first and second cycle of the laser pulse by TFSM thin film. The first pulse cycle is required for heating up the film to reduce the temperature gradient during the second pulse cycle absorption. The conditions of the second cycle absorption change due to the heating up by the first one. The change of this condition for the second cycle is in the laser radiation absorption range.

The main elements of this unit are the gas boiler and the thermoelectric generator modules (TEGM), heating circuit, electronic three-way valve, the consumer battery and automation components. The housing of the boiler is a hot heat exchanger, and serves for the installation of the heat exchanger and cold TEGM. TEGM is installed between the cold and hot heat exchangers. The cold heat exchanger is cooled heating circuit and the hot heat exchanger is heated by the boiler casing. Thus, during the heating season, individual housing located in urban areas and in rural areas, using the device in their boilers, can receive and use cheap electricity.

The “active sites” were identified in the ensemble of soot particles, the place of their location, the nature of their structure. The mechanism of the formation and physico-chemical properties of the pyrolytic carbon film were studied in hydrocarbon flames. Integrated technique, including infrared spectral analysis, sampling of the condensed combustion products, studying of the surface topography of the soot particles, finding values of the optical constants, revealing irregularities in the brightness of the flame, identify irregularities in the brightness of the flame can be applied in the research of mechanisms of soot formation in heterogeneous condensed media.

The article investigates the samples, obtained by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) on the KAI-1-1200 installation for forming the photoactive layers of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon. Optimal average crystallinity parameter for mc-Si film is 52%.The authors of this article made a map of the crystallinity parameter distribution of the film surface for mc-Si film and took the measurements of Raman spectra at different points located evenly around the perimeter of the film. An important factor in the studying films is their uniform deposition on the substrate. As the KAI-1-1200 installation has several features which prevent the uniform deposition of films this distribution map helps to take account of these factors in order to eliminate them or find the optimal parameters of growth that will compensate for the uneven distribution of the film.

The paper presents the new material with PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) characteristics which was created on the basis of semiconductor Al-Pb-Se. In the future, scientific and technical results can be used as sensors temperature alarm, protection against over-current, voltage and temperature for thermal stabilization of heating devices.

The study is dedicated to obtaining and investigation of lead sulphide – cadmium sulphide based layers. The paper data of thermodinamical analyses of Pb–S–O, Cd–S–O system are reported. It is shown that in case of lead sulphide oxidizing the appearance of Pb nanoparticles is possible; in case of cadmium sulphide oxidizing, the most probable oxygen phases are CdO and CdSO₄. With the use of X-ray analyses, it is determined that during the annealing of the layers at T = 200° recrystallization of cadmium sulphide takes place that has correlation with atomic force microscopy data. The results can be used for producing photosensitive devices and LEDs operating at room temperature.

Porous silicon is advisable to get by electrochemical etching. The porosity of the obtained samples was about 70%. The thickness of the porous layer is (150–250) nm. The results of measurement of a reflectance of solar cells with different layer thicknesses of porous silicon show increased absorptive capacity of the porous silicon with increasing thickness, which directly indicates the possibility of using this material in solar cells. The porous silicon layer thickness from 70 microns has a greater dispersibility than the layers of lesser thickness. Thus, the use of porous silicon as a raw material for solar cells has excellent prospects. Such structures have a clear advantage over traditional and greatly improved technology to produce photovoltaic devices.