Effect of I/N interface on the performance of superstrate hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon solar cells

• Published in: Solar energy materials and solar cells 2015-09, Vol.140, p.202-208
• Main Authors: Bai, Lisha, Liu, Bofei, Huang, Qian, Li, Baozhang, Zhang, Dekun, Sun, Jian, Wei, Changchun, Chen, Xinliang, Wang, Guangcai, Zhao, Ying, Zhang, Xiaodan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buffer layers; Conversion; Current carriers; Discontinuity; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Solar cells; Solar power generation
• ISSN: 0927-0248
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2015.04.016

A study on the effect of the n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) buffer layers at the I/N interfaces on the overall performance of superstrate (pin-type) hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ( mu c-Si:H) single-junction solar cells with wide band gap silicon oxide doped supporting layers is presented. By integrating the n-type a-Si:H materials with proper band gap and thickness values at the I/N interface, the band gap discontinuity between the mu c-Si:H intrinsic and n-type nc-SiO sub(x):H layers can be successfully compensated for, thereby improving the carrier collection, reducing the accumulation and recombination of photo-generated carriers near the I/N interface, and improving the overall current and power output of the mu c-Si:H cells. Further adoption of an optimized hydrogen profiling technique based on the optimized n-type a-Si:H buffer layers yields an initial conversion efficiency of 10.05% for mu c-Si:H single-junction solar cells with a thickness of 2 mu m.