Analysis and optimization of silicon nano-structured geometry (black silicon) for photovoltaic applications has been reported. It is seen that a unique class of geometry: micro-nanostructure has the potential to find a balance between the conflicting interests of reduced reflection for wide angles of incidence, reduced surface area enhancement due to the nano-structuring of the substrate and reduced material wastage due to the etching of the silicon substrate to realize the geometry itself. It is established that even optimally designed micro-nanostructures would not be useful for conventional wafer based approaches. The work presents computational studies on how such micro-nanostructures are more potent for future ultra-thin monocrystalline silicon absorbers. For such ultra-thin absorbers, the optimally designed micro-nanostructures provide additional advantages of advanced light management capabilities as it behaves as a lossy 2D photonic crystal making the physically thin absorber optically thick along with the ability to collect photo-generated carriers orthogonal to the direction of light (radial junction) for unified photon-electron harvesting. Most significantly, the work answers the key question on how thin the monocrystalline solar absorber should be so that optimum micro-nanostructure would be able to harness the incident photons ensuring proper collection so as to reach the well-known Shockley-Queisser limit of solar cells. Flexible ultra-thin monocrystalline silicon solar cells have been fabricated using nanosphere lithography and MacEtch technique along with a synergistic association of crystalline and amorphous silicon technologies to demonstrate its physical and technological flexibilities. The outcomes are relevant so that nanotechnology may be seamlessly integrated into the technology roadmap of monocrystalline silicon solar cells as the silicon thickness should be significantly reduced without compromising the efficiency within the next decade.

No abstract

No abstract

Fill factor and conversion efficiency of single heterojunction solar cell is analytically computed based on the shallow doping at GaAs quantum well region. Poisson’s equation is solved with suitable boundary condition applied at hetero-interface for both dark and illuminated conditions, corresponding to which open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current are computed. Realistic dependence of minority carrier distribution on material layers and diffusion widths are taken into account for simulation purpose. Result exhibits that variation of acceptor density leads to better outcome in terms of both efficiency and fill factor, which is also critically depends on length of quantum well region. Doping of AlGaAs barrier layer has negligible influence on fill factor and conversion efficiency. Optimized dimension of quantum well layer width is the critical parameter for design of efficient solar cell, as revealed from the analysis.

No abstract