Fourteen percent efficiency ultrathin silicon solar cells with improved infrared light management enabled by hole‐selective transition metal oxide full‐area rear passivating contacts

Nasser, Hisham; Borra, Mona Zolfaghari; Ciftpinar, Emine Hande; Eldeeb, B.; Turan, Raşit

doi:10.1002/pip.3510

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…A simple Device A was initially simulated to attain a basic understanding of the charge transportation mechanism. The band gap of Ge is 0.66 eV in comparison with the ∼3.0 eV for MoO x [36].…”

Section: Device a (Moox/ge) Examinationmentioning

confidence: 81%

TCAD simulation of germanium-based heterostructure solar cell employing molybdenum oxide as a hole-selective layer

Mehmood,

Nasser

2024

Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng.

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Molybdenum Oxide (MoOx) has been used as a hole-extraction film for photovoltaic (PV) applications; however, its interaction with Germanium (Ge)-based solar cells is less understood. For the first time, this paper aims to physically model the Ge solar cell that incorporates MoOx for hole transportation at the front side of the PV device facing the sunlight. However, the charge transportation process within the PV device is influenced by several design parameters that need optimization. A higher work function of MoOx increases the barrier height against minority carriers of electrons which is beneficial for extricating holes from the front interface of MoOx/Ge. A progressive reduction in the recombination of charge carriers has been observed by including a passivation layer of amorphous silicon (i-a-Si:H). Similarly, inserting a passivation and back surface field (BSF) stack of i-a-Si:H strengthens the electric field and likewise reduces the recombination at the rear side of the device. An enhanced doping concentration of BSF assists in the favourable alignment of energy bands for improved charge transportation within the solar cell as the rear passivation maintains the field strength for accelerated movement of charge carriers. However, optimizing the thickness of the front-passivation film is challenging due to the parasitic absorption of light at large thicknesses. A comparative study with the reference device revealed that the proposed device exhibited a step-increase in the conversion efficiency (η) from 4.23% to 13.10%, with a higher Jsc of 46.4 mA/cm2, Voc of 383 mV, and FF of 74%. The proposed study is anticipated to meet the research gap in the physical device modelling of Ge-based solar cells employing high work function MoOx as a carrier-selective layer that could be conducive to the development of highly efficient multijunction solar cells

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Section: Device a (Moox/ge) Examinationmentioning

confidence: 81%

TCAD simulation of germanium-based heterostructure solar cell employing molybdenum oxide as a hole-selective layer

Mehmood,

Nasser

2024

Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng.

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“…Addressing this problem requires developing innovative broadband anti-reflection coatings (ARCs) and efficient light-trapping techniques to increase the effective optical path length inside the structure. [15] Researchers explored different ARC structures manufactured with industrially scalable wet-chemistry techniques ranging from inverted pyramid, [16,17] upright nanopyramid, [18] nanowires, [19] and dual structures, [20] reaching power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 16.4% from solar cells with wafer thickness as low as 16 μm. [16] Adding nanoparticles at the solar cell's rear side is also a strategy studied to scatter the light at an increasing optical path.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative Strategies for Photons Management on Ultrathin Silicon Solar Cells

Li,

Fratalocchi

2024

Global Challenges

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Silicon (Si), the eighth most common element in the known universe by mass and widely applied in the industry of electronics chips and solar cells, rarely emerges as a pure element in the Earth's crust. Optimizing its manufacturing can be crucial in the global challenge of reducing the cost of renewable energy modules and implementing sustainable development goals in the future. In the industry of solar cells, this challenge is stimulating studies of ultrathin Si‐based architectures, which are rapidly attracting broad attention. Ultrathin solar cells require up to two orders of magnitude less Si than conventional solar cells, and owning to a flexible nature, they are opening applications in different industries that conventional cells do not yet serve. Despite these attractive factors, a difficulty in ultrathin Si solar cells is overcoming the weak light absorption at near‐infrared wavelengths. The primary goal in addressing this problem is scaling up cost‐effective and innovative textures for anti‐reflection and light‐trapping with shallower depth junctions, which can offer similar performances to traditional thick modules. This review provides an overview of this area of research, discussing this field both as science and engineering and highlighting present progress and future outlooks.

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“… 22.5 Alkali etching 4 HJ + DF 33.2 555 76 14.0 Ref. 50 . 20 Alkali etching 1 SHJ 30.3 699 77.1 16.3 Free-standing; Flexible; Ref.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free-standing ultrathin silicon wafers and solar cells through edges reinforcement

Wu,

Liu,

Lin

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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Crystalline silicon solar cells with regular rigidity characteristics dominate the photovoltaic market, while lightweight and flexible thin crystalline silicon solar cells with significant market potential have not yet been widely developed. This is mainly caused by the brittleness of silicon wafers and the lack of a solution that can well address the high breakage rate during thin solar cells fabrication. Here, we present a thin silicon with reinforced ring (TSRR) structure, which is successfully used to prepare free-standing 4.7-μm 4-inch silicon wafers. Experiments and simulations of mechanical properties for both TSRR and conventional thin silicon structures confirm the supporting role of reinforced ring, which can share stress throughout the solar cell preparation and thus suppressing breakage rate. Furthermore, with the help of TSRR structure, an efficiency of 20.33% (certified 20.05%) is achieved on 28-μm silicon solar cell with a breakage rate of ~0%. Combining the simulations of optoelectrical properties for TSRR solar cell, the results indicate high efficiency can be realized by TSRR structure with a suitable width of the ring. Finally, we prepare 50 ~ 60-μm textured 182 × 182 mm2 TSRR wafers and perform key manufacturing processes, confirming the industrial compatibility of the TSRR method.

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Fourteen percent efficiency ultrathin silicon solar cells with improved infrared light management enabled by hole‐selective transition metal oxide full‐area rear passivating contacts

Cited by 17 publications

References 68 publications

TCAD simulation of germanium-based heterostructure solar cell employing molybdenum oxide as a hole-selective layer

TCAD simulation of germanium-based heterostructure solar cell employing molybdenum oxide as a hole-selective layer

Innovative Strategies for Photons Management on Ultrathin Silicon Solar Cells

Free-standing ultrathin silicon wafers and solar cells through edges reinforcement

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