BGU, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 84990, Israel

Born: 1944, U.K.

Ph.D: Ph.D: 1969, Univ. of Illinois; Prof. 1995.

Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics - Chair

The Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center - Director

Department of Physics - Professor

Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics - Professor

Research Interests:

Solar Radiation, Solar Energy, Solar Electric Power, Solar Energy Conversion Systems, Solar Energy Devices, Solar Energy Materials, Photovoltaic Conversion, Solar-Thermal Conversion. 

Research Projects:

Negev Solar Radiation Survey, Solar Spectral Studies, Concentrator Photovoltaics, Various Uses of a Large Parabolic Dish, Fullerene PV Cells, DC->AC Converters. 

Research Projects for M.Sc.

• Study of 2-sided PV modules
• Study of AC modules
• Studies with concentrator cells 

Abstracts of Current Research:

Solar Cells from Carbon: This paper discusses a number of unique features of the newly-discovered full erene form of carbon which lead one to suspect that it may be an important potential photovoltaic material. Notably: (1) It crystallizes as an FCC semiconductor solid with a band gap(according to the first published calculations) of 1.5 eV; (2) It may be synthesized from graphite and purified using (solar-generated) heat without the need for any kind of chemical treatment; (3) It contains 240 atoms perunit cell, permitting much higher doping densities than is the case for conventional semiconductors. Since subsequent band calculations and some experiments indicated the possibility of a larger band gap, a Schottky-junction AgC60 device was fabricated and used to demonstrate the photovoltaic properties of fullerene.

EVA browning and the time dependence ofI-V curve parameters on PV modules with and without mirror-enhancement in a desert environment: This is a second paper we have published on a disturbing phenomenon that was observed, particularly in the USA, in photovoltaic modules which had been subjected to mirror-enhanced irradiation under desert conditions. In the case of the photovoltaic power station at Carrisa Plains, California,system output was observed to decrease at a rate of approximately 10% per year while, concomitantly, a progressive brown coloration was observed in the EVA pottant component of the modules. Our quantitative studies of asimilar EVA browning phenomenon observed at Sede Boqer led us to concludethat mirror-enhanced modules degrade in efficiency at a rate of 1-2 % per year whereas the same modules without mirrors degrade at a rate that isless than 0.5 % per year. We conclude that EVA browning was probably not the major cause of power loss at the Carrisa Plains plant.

Structure and optical properties of C-60 thin films: This is one of several papers that investigate the opto-electronic properties of full erenethin films. The motivation behind the present study was to try and understand the plethora of different values for the band gap that had appeared in the literature. A series of otherwise identical thin films were vacuum-deposited at various deposition rates on substrates held at different temperatures. It was noticed that the degree of crystallinity of the resulting thin films depended on the deposition conditions.Specifically, low deposition rates on higher-temperature substrates led to films having a higher degree of crystallinity than those grown at higher deposition rates on substrates held at lower temperatures. Furthermore, it was discovered that the size of the effective band gap varies progressively with the degree of crystalinity of the full erene film: highly crystalline films having Eg close to 1.5 eV and highly amorphous films having band gapsclose to 2.5 eV.

 Recent Publications:

Faiman, D. Concentrator Photovoltaics: an intriguing pathway to solar electric power plants at $1/W. Journal of Arid Land Studies. 14S: 155-158, 2004

Faiman, D., Feuermann, D., Ibbetson, P., Medwed, B., Zemel, A., Ianetz, A., Liubansky, V., Setter, I. & Suraqui, S. The Negev Radiation Survey. Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. 126, Special Issue, Israel: 906-914., 2004

Faiman, D., Berman, D., de Held, E & Oldenkamp, H. Study of AC-module inverters under extreme desert conditions. Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells. 75: 629-635, 2003

Faiman, D. Case studies for the Middle East, including sun-tracking non-concentrator, and concentrator photovoltaics. Energy from the Desert: Feasibility of VLS-PV Systems. 0: 135-150, 2003

Faiman, D. Inorganic benchmarks for organic solar cells: considerations of efficiency, stability and cost. Organic Photovoltaics II. 4465: 1-12, 2002