Towards fabrication of low cost high efficiency c-Si solar cells: Progress and optimization using TCAD simulation study

Murukesan, Karthick; Mavilla, Narasimha Rao

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2012.6318037

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…60 The commercial technology computer-aided design (TCAD) software is suitable for the calculation of devices with multidimensional structures. 61 The representatives are Sentaurus TCAD provided by Synopsys Inc. 62 and Victory TCAD provided by Silvaco Inc. 63 These TCAD software include a process simulator, which enables a complete evaluation starting from the processing to the device characteristics. This review article is focused on device simulations.…”

Section: Softwaresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review: Numerical simulation approaches of crystalline‐Si photovoltaics

Sugiura

Nakano

2023

Energy Science & Engineering

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This study reviews the current methods of numerical simulations for crystalline‐Si (c‐Si) photovoltaic (PV) cells. The increased demand for PV devices has led to significant improvements in the performance of solar cell devices. The main contribution comes from c‐Si solar cells, which constitute 90% of the industry. Numerical analysis is effective for predicting, developing, and optimizing cell performances as the cell structures become more complex and include several parameters. However, conventional methods cannot simulate improved device structures with complex configurations. Additional physics is necessary to evaluate these cell structures. This study introduces methods for evaluating these cell structures using physical modeling and highlights the latest examples of simulations of c‐Si solar cells.

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Section: Softwaresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The commercial technology computer‐aided design (TCAD) software is suitable for the calculation of devices with multidimensional structures 61 . The representatives are Sentaurus TCAD provided by Synopsys Inc 62 .…”

Section: Numerical Simulation Of C‐si Solar Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Numerical simulation approaches of crystalline‐Si photovoltaics

Sugiura

Nakano

2023

Energy Science & Engineering

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“…However, the high efficiency of planar solar cell cost is still high compared to TFSCs [4,5]. Therefore, recent researches focus on fabricating silicon-based solar cells using cheap ways while achieving high efficiency [6][7][8][9]. One of the interesting ways to reduce the cell cost is by using a silicon nanorod.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Base High Doping Impact on the npn Solar Cell Microstructure Performance Using Physically Based Analytical Model

2021

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Recently, there is a rapid trend to incorporate low cost solar cells in photovoltaic technology. In this regard, low-cost high-doped Silicon wafers are beneficial; however, the high doping effects encountered in these wafers render their practical use in fabrication. The npn solar cell microstructure has been found to avoid this issue by the proper design of vertical generation and lateral collection of the light generated carriers. We report on the impact of the p + base doping concentration, up to 2×10 19 cm-3 , on the npn microstructure performance to find the most appropriate way for high efficiency. To optimize the structure, a series of design steps has been applied using our previously published analytical model. Before inspecting the high doped base effect, firstly, the n + emitter is optimized. Secondly, the impact of bulk recombination inside the p + base is introduced showing the range of optimum base width (Wp). Then, we investigate thoroughly the impact of base doping levels for different base widths to get the optimum Wp that satisfies maximum efficiency. The results show that for p + base doping concentration ranging from 5×10 17 cm-3 to 2×10 19 cm-3 , the npn microstructure efficiency decreases from 15.9% to 9%, respectively. Although the efficiency is degraded considerably for higher doping levels, the structure still achieves a competitive efficiency at higher doping levels, for which its cost is greatly reduced, in comparison with thin film solar cells. Moreover, using higher doping permits lesser wafer area which could be beneficial for large area solar cells design.

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“…Still, few research works have been done to fabricate silicon-based solar cells in a cheap way with a relatively high efficiency [6][7][8][9]. One of the most interesting attempts to get high efficiency low cost silicon-based cells is to use a nanorod with a high-doped pn junction in the radial direction [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physically Based Analytical Model of Heavily Doped Silicon Wafers Based Proposed Solar Cell Microstructure

et al. 2020

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In this paper, an analytical model of a proposed low-cost high efficiency NPN silicon-based solar cell structure is presented. The structure is based on using low cost heavily doped commercially available silicon wafers and proposed to be fabricated by the same steps as the conventional solar cells except an extra deep trench etch step. Moreover, the cell has been engineered to react to the UV spectrum, resulting in a greater conversion performance. The presented analytical model takes the electrical and optical characteristics into account. Thus, the influence of both physical and technological parameters on the structure performance could be easily examined. Consequently, the optimization of the structure performance becomes visible. To inspect the validity of the analytical model, a comparison of the main performance parameters resulting from the model results with TCAD simulations is carried out showing good agreement.

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Towards fabrication of low cost high efficiency c-Si solar cells: Progress and optimization using TCAD simulation study

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Review: Numerical simulation approaches of crystalline‐Si photovoltaics

Review: Numerical simulation approaches of crystalline‐Si photovoltaics

Investigation of Base High Doping Impact on the npn Solar Cell Microstructure Performance Using Physically Based Analytical Model

Physically Based Analytical Model of Heavily Doped Silicon Wafers Based Proposed Solar Cell Microstructure

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