Light trapping in periodically textured amorphous silicon thin film solar cells using realistic interface morphologies

Abstract

The influence of realistic interface morphologies on light trapping in amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells with periodic surface textures is studied. Realistic interface morphologies are obtained by a 3D surface coverage algorithm using the substrate morphology and layer thicknesses as input parameters. Finite difference time domain optical simulations are used to determine the absorption in the individual layers of the thin-film solar cell. The influence of realistic interface morphologies on light trapping is determined by using solar cells structures with the same front and back contact morphologies as a reference. Finally the optimal surface textures are derived.

Comparison of Light Trapping in Silicon Nanowire and Surface Textured Thin-Film Solar Cells

“…Currently, there are a number of methods being utilized such as the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method [21], finite integration method (FIM) [22] or Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) [23] capable of simulating near-and far-field wave propagation in such devices. For this study, a FDTD simulation tool is used to investigate the wave propagation within solar cell structures [24]. The schematic cross-sections of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) solar cells in superstrate configuration are depicted in Figure 1.…”

Plasma Textured Glass Surface Morphologies for Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Solar Cells-A review

“…The minor variation in the etching rate from 22.66 nm/min to 27.33 nm/min was related to the different surface structure of glass. The maximum etching depth of ~ 1.73 μm was recorded by the textured glass with the pattern dimension of (12×5) μm 2 . The higher concentration of metal elements like F, B, Al and Na in the glass surface can reduce the etching rate of textured glass by ICP-RIE process.…”

“…The front transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films must exhibit good transparency, low resistivity and excellent light scattering properties for high efficiency a-Si TFSCs. Various textured TCO films like SnO 2 :F, ZnO:Al, and ZnO:B are commonly used as substrates to increase the light path within the absorber layer for the enhancement of light trapping in the solar cell [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. However, these textured TCOs substrates are insufficient to gain the light scattering effect needed for longer wavelength region due to their smaller (~600 nm) textured size features.…”

“…An alternative approach to improve the light-trapping in a-Si TFSCs is to use of TCO films on the textured glass substrates [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Various methods to create textured glass surface morphologies have been investigated in recent years like sand blasting, powder blasting, wet chemical etching with hydrofluoric acid (HF) based solutions, aluminum induced texturization (AIT) and plasma etching through a nanostructured metal mask [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Transmittance Simulation of Surface Textured Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide (FTO) for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) Application

“…Application of surface texturing on the surface of silicone amorphous apparently managed to increase the efficiency of solar cells. [5][6][7] In the DSSC, Wang et al 8 observe that the hemisphere of indium doped tin oxide (FTO) increase scattering of light. However, the effect of surface texturing of TCO in DSSC has not been fully investigated.…”