Flexible micromorph tandem a-Si/{mu}c-Si solar cells

The deposition of a stack of amorphous (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline ({mu}c-Si:H) tandem thin film silicon solar cells (micromorph) requires at least twice the time used for a single junction a-Si:H cell. However, micromorph devices have a higher potential efficiency, thanks to the broader absorptio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2010-01, Vol.107 (1)
Main Authors: Soederstroem, T., Haug, F.-J., Terrazzoni-Daudrix, V., Ballif, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
AMORPHOUS STATE
CHEMICAL COATING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CRYSTAL GROWTH
CRYSTALS
DEPOSITION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN
LIGHT SCATTERING
MATERIALS
MATERIALS SCIENCE
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
POLYETHYLENES
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
SCATTERING
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECTRA
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE COATING
THIN FILMS
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Summary:The deposition of a stack of amorphous (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline ({mu}c-Si:H) tandem thin film silicon solar cells (micromorph) requires at least twice the time used for a single junction a-Si:H cell. However, micromorph devices have a higher potential efficiency, thanks to the broader absorption spectrum of {mu}c-Si:H material. High efficiencies can only be achieved by mitigating the nanocracks in the {mu}c-Si:H cell and the light-induced degradation of the a-Si:H cell. As a result, {mu}c-Si:H cell has to grow on a smooth substrate with large periodicity (>1 {mu}m) and the a-Si:H cell on sharp pyramids with smaller feature size ({approx}350 nm) to strongly scatter the light in the weak absorption spectra of a-Si:H material. The asymmetric intermediate reflector introduced in this work uncouples the growth and light scattering issues of the tandem micromorph solar cells. The stabilized efficiency of the tandem n-i-p/n-i-p micromorph is increased by a relative 15% compared to a cell without AIR and 32% in relative compared to an a-Si:H single junction solar cells. The overall process (T
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.3275860