Comprehensive cell to module optical loss analysis of metal assisted chemically etched inverted pyramid textured multi-crystalline silicon solar cells and modules by ray-tracing method

• Published in: Solar energy 2022-09, Vol.244, p.315-321
• Main Authors: Sreejith, K.P., Nath, Tanushree J.B., Kottantharayil, Anil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cell to module generation losses; Metal assisted chemical etching; Multi-crystalline silicon solar cells; Ray-tracer simulations
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2022.08.025

Most of the recent articles addressing the texturing issues of diamond wire sawn multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers propose metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) inverted pyramid texturing scheme as the best suited industrial process for the fabrication of low-cost, high efficiency solar cells. However, a detailed generation loss analysis of such textured solar cells are not widely investigated yet, especially after module conversion. We present a comprehensive analysis of various optical losses in MACE inverted pyramid textured mc-Si solar cells and modules using the SunSolve module ray-tracer simulator from PV Lighthouse. The simulation model accurately predicted the optical properties of MACE inverted pyramid textured samples and the simulated reflectance values were nearly identical to experimentally measured values at different stages of solar cell processing (before and after ARC). This study quantifies and benchmarks the optical generation losses of not-encapsulated and encapsulated inverted pyramid textured cells with well established models of random pyramid textured and iso-textured solar cells for aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) architecture. Moderate cell to module (CTM) generation current loss was noticed for inverted pyramid textured solar cells, which was nearly 0.71 mA-cm−2 lower than random pyramid textured and 1.05 mA-cm−2 higher than iso-textured solar cells. We find that adoption of MACE inverted pyramid texturing over acid texturing enhances the photo-generation in mc-Si modules by ∼0.5% and that the total photo-generation current density in mc-Si solar modules approach 99.6% of that in random pyramid textured c-Si modules. •Optical generation losses in inverted nano-pyramid textured wafers are presented.•CTM generation losses are estimated using ray-tracing simulations.•CTM generation losses are compared with iso- and random pyramid textured samples.•Generation losses in different textures changes significantly after encapsulation.•Nano-texturing offers 0.5% enhancement in photo-generation after module conversion.