Prediction of defective regions in optimisation of surface textures in thin-film silicon solar cells using combined model of layer growth

Sever, Martin; Krč, Janez; Topič, Marko

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2014.11.053

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The aspect ratio here was chosen to have both efficient light trapping and good electrical performance in solar cells. As revealed by previous studies, the optimal correlation length is correlated with the cell thickness and aspect ratio . Thus, a careful optimization of correlation length (or pitch for periodic structures) and aspect ratio is necessary to obtain the best efficiency for a given cell thickness.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…The aspect ratio here was chosen to have both efficient light trapping and good electrical performance in solar cells. As revealed by previous studies, the optimal correlation length is correlated with the cell thickness and aspect ratio [16,32,[34][35][36]. Thus, a careful optimization of correlation Table I.…”

Section: Optimization Of Micro-textured Glass For Nc-si:h Solar Cellsmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Highly transparent modulated surface textured front electrodes for high‐efficiency multijunction thin‐film silicon solar cells

Hui‐min

Moulin

Tong

et al. 2015

Progress in Photovoltaics

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To further increase the efficiency of multijunction thin-film silicon (TF-Si) solar cells, it is crucial for the front electrode to have a good transparency and conduction, to provide efficient light trapping for each subcell, and to ensure a suitable morphology for the growth of high-quality silicon layers. Here, we present the implementation of highly transparent modulated surface textured (MST) front electrodes as light-trapping structures in multijunction TF-Si solar cells. The MST substrates comprise a micro-textured glass, a thin layer of hydrogenated indium oxide (IOH), and a sub-micron nano-textured ZnO layer grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD ZnO). The bilayer IOH/LPCVD ZnO stack guarantees efficient light in-coupling and light trapping for the top amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cell while minimizing the parasitic absorption losses. The crater-shaped micro-textured glass provides both efficient light trapping in the red and infrared wavelength range and a suitable morphology for the growth of high-quality nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) layers. Thanks to the efficient light trapping for the individual subcells and suitable morphology for the growth of high-quality silicon layers, multijunction solar cells deposited on MST substrates have a higher efficiency than those on single-textured state-of-the-art LPCVD ZnO substrates. Efficiencies of 14.8% (initial) and 12.5% (stable) have been achieved for a-Si:H/nc-Si:H tandem solar cells with the MST front electrode, surpassing efficiencies obtained on state-of-the-art LPCVD ZnO, thereby highlighting the high potential of MST front electrodes for high-efficiency multijunction solar cells.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…The aspect ratio here was chosen to have both efficient light trapping and good electrical performance in solar cells. As revealed by previous studies, the optimal correlation length is correlated with the cell thickness and aspect ratio [16,32,[34][35][36]. Thus, a careful optimization of correlation Table I.…”

Section: Optimization Of Micro-textured Glass For Nc-si:h Solar Cellsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Highly transparent modulated surface textured front electrodes for high‐efficiency multijunction thin‐film silicon solar cells

Hui‐min

Moulin

Tong

et al. 2015

Progress in Photovoltaics

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“…Furthermore, the electrical properties of the solar cell are negatively affected. Voids or cracks are formed in the µc‐Si:H film, leading to a drop of the open circuit voltage and fill factor . If the period is larger than the solar cell thickness, the light is diffracted in smaller diffraction angles, resulting in a drop of the short circuit current.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the interplay of cell thickness and optimum period of silicon thin‐film solar cells: light trapping and plasmonic losses

Tamang

Sai

Jovanov

et al. 2015

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Light trapping and photon management in honeycomb-textured microcrystalline silicon solar cells are investigated experimentally and by modeling of the manufacturing process and the optical wave propagation. The solar cells on honeycombtextured substrates exhibit short circuit current densities exceeding 30 mA/cm 2 and energy conversion efficiencies of up to 11.0%. By controlling the fabrication process, the period and height of the honeycomb-textured substrates are varied. The influence of the honeycomb substrate morphology on the interfaces of the individual solar cell layers and the quantum efficiency is determined. The optical wave propagation is calculated using 3D finite difference time domain simulations. A very good agreement between the optical simulation and experimental results is obtained. Strategies are discussed on how to increase the short circuit current density beyond 30 mA/cm 2 . In particular, the influence of plasmonic losses of the textured silver (Ag) reflector on the short circuit current and quantum efficiency of the solar cell is discussed. Finally, solar cell structures with reduced plasmonic losses are proposed.

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“…This result is in good agreement with earlier observations. [8][9][10]25,27 Considering the σ rms of A-0 (158 nm) and B-80 (200 nm), the formation of defective regions is apparently not so much dependent on σ rms , but more on the slope distributions of the substrates.…”

Section: Nc-si:h Film Growth and Defective Region Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Substrate Morphology Slope Distributions on Light Scattering, nc-Si:H Film Growth, and Solar Cell Performance

Kim

Santbergen

Jäger

et al. 2014

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Thin-film silicon solar cells are often deposited on textured ZnO substrates. The solar-cell performance is strongly correlated to the substrate morphology, as this morphology determines light scattering, defective-region formation, and crystalline growth of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H). Our objective is to gain deeper insight in these correlations using the slope distribution, rms roughness (σ(rms)) and correlation length (lc) of textured substrates. A wide range of surface morphologies was obtained by Ar plasma treatment and wet etching of textured and flat-as-deposited ZnO substrates. The σ(rms), lc and slope distribution were deduced from AFM scans. Especially, the slope distribution of substrates was represented in an efficient way that light scattering and film growth direction can be more directly estimated at the same time. We observed that besides a high σ(rms), a high slope angle is beneficial to obtain high haze and scattering of light at larger angles, resulting in higher short-circuit current density of nc-Si:H solar cells. However, a high slope angle can also promote the creation of defective regions in nc-Si:H films grown on the substrate. It is also found that the crystalline fraction of nc-Si:H solar cells has a stronger correlation with the slope distributions than with σ(rms) of substrates. In this study, we successfully correlate all these observations with the solar-cell performance by using the slope distribution of substrates.

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Prediction of defective regions in optimisation of surface textures in thin-film silicon solar cells using combined model of layer growth

Cited by 25 publications

References 42 publications

Highly transparent modulated surface textured front electrodes for high‐efficiency multijunction thin‐film silicon solar cells

Highly transparent modulated surface textured front electrodes for high‐efficiency multijunction thin‐film silicon solar cells

On the interplay of cell thickness and optimum period of silicon thin‐film solar cells: light trapping and plasmonic losses

Effect of Substrate Morphology Slope Distributions on Light Scattering, nc-Si:H Film Growth, and Solar Cell Performance

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