Efficiency enhancement for microcrystalline silicon solar cells by a lens-like structure to maintain improved photocarriers distribution

Sadegh Jalaly; Mahmoud Shahabadi

doi:10.1117/1.JPE.8.044502

14 November 2018 Efficiency enhancement for microcrystalline silicon solar cells by a lens-like structure to maintain improved photocarriers distribution

Sadegh Jalaly, Mahmoud Shahabadi

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Photonics for Energy, Vol. 8, Issue 4, 044502 (November 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.8.044502

Abstract

Spatial distribution of the photogenerated carriers in a hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si : H) solar cell has a significant impact on its electrical characteristics. Photogeneration distribution can be manipulated using photon management techniques. The electrical specifications of a typical thin-film μc-Si : H solar cell under various distributions of photocarriers are thoroughly investigated for both zero and higher bias voltages. For a thin-film μc-Si : H solar cell with a typically low thickness, we conclude that a photogeneration distribution having a greater rate in the central region of the solar cell performs optimally. This result is in contrast to the previously reported results in the literature for some other thin-film solar cell technologies, where the improved performance of a thin-film solar cell is believed to be when the photogenerated carriers are concentrated near the anode. It is demonstrated that the dominant contribution of dark carriers to recombination in the middle of the cell at higher bias voltages causes this effect. Moreover, we propose a lens-like structure by patterning top layers of a μc-Si : H solar cell, which approximately realizes the desired photogeneration distribution and provides an increase in the density of photocarriers in the middle of the solar cell, while it also acts as an antireflection coating. This proposed configuration has a 1.3% improvement in power conversion efficiency compared with a planar μc-Si : H solar cell with identical constituting layers and similar dimensions.

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Sadegh Jalaly and Mahmoud Shahabadi "Efficiency enhancement for microcrystalline silicon solar cells by a lens-like structure to maintain improved photocarriers distribution," Journal of Photonics for Energy 8(4), 044502 (14 November 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.8.044502

Received: 18 May 2018; Accepted: 22 October 2018; Published: 14 November 2018

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KEYWORDS

Solar cells

Thin film solar cells

Microcrystalline materials

Diffusion

Absorption

Electrodes

Optical lithography

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