Doped tin oxide coated aluminium solar selective reflector surfaces

An experimental study of spectrally selective reflector (SSR) characteristi cs of pyrolytically deposited fluorine doped tin oxide on aluminium is repo rted. It is shown that a pyrolytically deposited doped tin oxide layer offe rs good spectral selectivity to the aluminium surface. High solar reflectan ce is obtained for wavelengths below 1.1 mu m and low solar reflectance for wavelengths above 1.1 mu m. The spectral selectivity is highly dependent o n the preparation conditions, doping and thickness of the films and spectra l selectivity was significantly improved if the aluminium surface was initi ally anodized. The results demonstrate a potential for producing SSR's for silicon based solar cell concentrator applications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.