Electrical Characterization of n-ZnO/c-Si 2D Heterojunction Solar Cell by Using TCAD Tools

• Published in: SILICON 2018-09, Vol.10 (5), p.2193-2199
• Main Authors: Boukortt, N., Patanè, S., Hadri, B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Electric contacts; Electrical properties; Emitters; Environmental Chemistry; Heterojunctions; Inorganic Chemistry; Lasers; Materials Science; Optical Devices; Optics; Original Paper; Parameters; Photonics; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic conversion; Polymer Sciences; Semiconductor materials; Silicon substrates; Simulation; Solar cells; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 1876-990X; 1876-9918
• DOI: 10.1007/s12633-017-9750-7

This paper investigates recent developments in Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cell physics and technology by using ATLAS Silvaco device simulator. The work has been focused on improvement of structural and electrical properties by using zinc oxide layer to passivate the front surface of a crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrate. In a silicon cells, the device performance crucially depends on the quality of the n-ZnO/c-Si heterojunction. Simulation results for various front dielectric material, emitter doping concentration, and semiconductor material for the front surface field (FSF) layer on the considered structure are reported and analyzed. These variations have a direct impact on the electrical device characteristics. We could determine the critical parameters of the cell and optimize its main parameters to obtain the highest performance for IBC solar cell. Therefore, we present our best results obtained recently and some guidelines to improve still more the efficiency of the devices. The optimization at 300 K led to the following results J sc = 41.89 mA/cm 2 , V oc = 0.727 V, FF = 85.23 %, P max = 259.95 W/m -2 , and η =25.99 % which are close with those found in different works. The structure simulation will simplify the manufacturing processes of solar cells; will thus reduce the costs while producing high outputs of photovoltaic conversion. Finally, we finish by a summary of the main advantages of this technology taking into account all the parameters described above.