Limiting efficiency of bulk and thin-film silicon solar cells in the presence of surface recombination

Green, Martin A.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-159x(199907/08)7:4<327::aid-pip250>3.0.co;2-b

Cited by 66 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This result goes beyond previous ones reported in Ref. 34, where it was shown that, as soon as surface recombination is introduced, the optimal thickness should move to the bulk regime (hundreds of lm or more). In fact, this happens only in the case of poorly passivated surfaces with S eff > 10 3 cm/s; while for S eff < 10 2 cm/s, the optimal thickness is always below the intrinsic limit of 80 lm, dictated by radiative and Auger recombinations.…”

Section: Effects Of Surface Recombination In Textured Devicessupporting

confidence: 53%

“…Carrier transport inside the device is modelled within a general p-n junction framework, which is largely adopted in real c-Si devices. A crucial concern for efficiency is the role of surface recombination, which becomes important for thinner cells, 34 and which is increased by the micro-and nanostructuring required for light trapping, because of the increased surface area. 42,43 We find that surface recombination, at present technological level, does not affect the conclusion that silicon solar cells can be made at the same time thinner and more efficient than with conventional wafer technology.…”

Section: And A)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the end of the 1990 s, Green incorporated surface recombination and Lambertian light trapping in a single electro-optical model. 34 However, this model does not employ the surface recombination velocity, but rather the open-circuit voltage. This quantity is dependent on the device structure, limiting extension of the model's applicability to other semiconductor materials and cell architectures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards high efficiency thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells: The roles of light trapping and non-radiative recombinations

Bozzola¹,

Kowalczewski²,

Andreani³

2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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Thin-film solar cells based on silicon have emerged as an alternative to standard thick wafers technology, but they are less efficient, because of incomplete absorption of sunlight, and nonradiative recombinations. In this paper, we focus on the case of crystalline silicon (c-Si) devices, and we present a full analytic electro-optical model for p-n junction solar cells with Lambertian light trapping. This model is validated against numerical solutions of the drift-diffusion equations. We use this model to investigate the interplay between light trapping, and bulk and surface recombination. Special attention is paid to surface recombination processes, which become more important in thinner devices. These effects are further amplified due to the textures required for light trapping, which lead to increased surface area. We show that c-Si solar cells with thickness of a few microns can overcome 20% efficiency and outperform bulk ones when light trapping is implemented. The optimal device thickness in presence of light trapping, bulk and surface recombination, is quantified to be in the range of 10-80 lm, depending on the bulk quality. These results hold, provided the effective surface recombination is kept below a critical level of the order of 100 cm/s. We discuss the possibility of meeting this requirement, in the context of state-of-the-art techniques for light trapping and surface passivation. We show that our predictions are within the capability of present day silicon technologies. V

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Section: Effects Of Surface Recombination In Textured Devicessupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: And A)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards high efficiency thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells: The roles of light trapping and non-radiative recombinations

Bozzola¹,

Kowalczewski²,

Andreani³

2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…The growth of a high-quality SiO 2 layer with low interface trap density (D it ) on silicon is an effective surface passivation method for the solar cells to further improve cell efficiency [7][8][9]. Derbali and Ezzaouia [10] reported that thermal SiO 2 film is an effective surface passivation layer for highly phosphorus-doped silicon wafers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency Enhancement of Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Inserting Two-Step Growth Thermal Oxide to the Surface Passivation Layer

Liao

Lin

Chuang

et al. 2017

International Journal of Photoenergy

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In this study, the efficiency of the multicrystalline was improved by inserting a two-step growth thermal oxide layer as the surface passivation layer. Two-step thermal oxidation process can reduce carrier recombination at the surface and improve cell efficiency. The first oxidation step had a growth temperature of 780°C, a growth time of 5 min, and with N 2 /O 2 gas flow ratio 12 : 1. The second oxidation had a growth temperature of 750°C, growth time of 20 min, and under pure N 2 gas environment. Carrier lifetime was increased to 15.45 μs, and reflectance was reduced 0.52% using the two-step growth method as compared to the conventional one-step growth oxide passivation method. Consequently, internal quantum efficiency of the solar cell increased 4.1%, and conversion efficiency increased 0.37%. These results demonstrate that the two-step thermal oxidation process is an efficient way to increase the efficiency of the multicrystalline silicon solar cells.

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“…5 In today's silicon solar cells, surface recombination has become the dominant term that limits the maximum attainable open-circuit voltage of the cell. 6 One typical example is the conventional n þ p silicon cell, wherein the high recombination at the front surface, including the n þ emitter, has capped the V OC to around 650 mV. This also limits the cell efficiency to about 20% for commercial screen-printed cells.…”

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confidence: 99%

Field-effect passivation and degradation analyzed with photoconductance decay measurements

Chen

Hsin

Leendertz

et al. 2014

Applied Physics Letters

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In this article, an expression for the surface passivation has been derived in terms of the surface recombination velocity and the field-effect exponential. The analytical solutions provide a comprehensive understanding of the injection dependency of minority charge carrier lifetime as measured by photoconductance decay. The model has been utilized to analyze the field-effect passivation of silicon exerted by the fixed dielectric charge in an overlying dielectric film. Possible limitations and restrictions of the technique are also addressed.

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Limiting efficiency of bulk and thin-film silicon solar cells in the presence of surface recombination

Cited by 66 publications

References 7 publications

Towards high efficiency thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells: The roles of light trapping and non-radiative recombinations

Towards high efficiency thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells: The roles of light trapping and non-radiative recombinations

Efficiency Enhancement of Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Inserting Two-Step Growth Thermal Oxide to the Surface Passivation Layer

Field-effect passivation and degradation analyzed with photoconductance decay measurements

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