Photocurrent enhancement in thin-film silicon solar cells by combination of anti-reflective sub-wavelength structures and light-trapping textures

Dielectric films with anti‐reflective sub‐wavelength structures are applied to thin‐film silicon solar cells to improve the light incoupling at the front surface. It is verified that modification of the refractive index of the incident medium using dielectric films with sub‐wavelength structures is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Progress in photovoltaics 2015-11, Vol.23 (11), p.1572-1580
Main Authors: Sai, Hitoshi, Matsui, Takuya, Saito, Kimihiko, Kondo, Michio, Yoshida, Isao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anti-reflection
Current density
Dielectrics
light trapping
microcrystalline
moth-eye structure
Photocurrent
Photovoltaic cells
Silicon
Solar cells
sub-wavelength structure
Surface layer
Texture
thin film silicon
Thin films
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Summary:Dielectric films with anti‐reflective sub‐wavelength structures are applied to thin‐film silicon solar cells to improve the light incoupling at the front surface. It is verified that modification of the refractive index of the incident medium using dielectric films with sub‐wavelength structures is beneficial to reduce the average reflectivity of Si solar cells with an anti‐reflective coating based on optical interference. It is also shown that the sub‐wavelength structure must be combined with a proper light‐trapping texture to enhance the absorption within thin‐film silicon solar cells. The effectiveness of dielectric films with sub‐wavelength structures is demonstrated by an increase of the short‐circuit current density of a microcrystalline silicon cell from 29.1 to 30.4 mA/cm2 in a designated area of 1 cm2. The optical interplay between the dielectric films and the light‐trapping textures is also discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Dielectric films with anti‐reflective sub‐wavelength structures are applied to thin‐film silicon solar cells to improve the light incoupling at the front surface. It is shown that the sub‐wavelength structure must be combined with a proper light‐trapping texture to enhance the absorption within the solar cells. The effectiveness of dielectric films with sub‐wavelength structures is demonstrated by an increase of the short‐circuit current density of a microcrystalline silicon cell from 29.1 to 30.4 mA/cm2.
ISSN:1062-7995
1099-159X
DOI:10.1002/pip.2594