scholarly journals Three-Terminal Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Hung Tai ◽  
Chu-Hsuan Lin ◽  
Chih-Ming Wang ◽  
Chun-Chieh Lin
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Thickness Optimization ◽  
Material Parameters ◽  
Si Solar Cell ◽  
Average Electric Field ◽  
Recombination Centers

Many defects exist within amorphous silicon since it is not crystalline. This provides recombination centers, thus reducing the efficiency of a typical a-Si solar cell. A new structure is presented in this paper: a three-terminal a-Si solar cell. The new back-to-back p-i-n/n-i-p structure increased the average electric field in a solar cell. A typical a-Si p-i-n solar cell was also simulated for comparison using the same thickness and material parameters. The 0.28 μm-thick three-terminal a-Si solar cell achieved an efficiency of 11.4%, while the efficiency of a typical a-Si p-i-n solar cell was 9.0%. Furthermore, an efficiency of 11.7% was achieved by thickness optimization of the three-terminal solar cell.

Transport parameters and electric field profile in amorphous silicon solar cells

1991 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 273-281
Author(s):  
R. Könenkamp ◽  
S. Muramatsu ◽  
H. Itoh ◽  
S. Matsubara ◽  
T. Shimada
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Field Profile ◽  
Transport Parameters ◽  
Electric Field Profile

Impurities and Metastable Centers in Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

1986 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Internal Surfaces ◽  
Induced Motion ◽  
Recombination Centers ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Electronic Activity ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

ABSTRACTAmorphous silicon solar cells are adversely affected by impurities through the creation of traps, recombination centers and metastable centers. The microstructure of discharged-produced, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) appears to be strongly affected by the presence of impurities in the discharge atmosphere. A model is developed in which impurities create microvoids in a-Si:H, and traps, recombination centers and metastable centers are associated with the internal surfaces of the microvoids. In this model, hydrogen plays an important role in determining the electronic activity and diffusivity of impurities, and metastable centers are created by the trapping of holes near microvoids and the induced motion of hydrogen on the internal surfaces of the microvoids.

Periodic Structures for Improved Light Management in Thin-film Silicon Solar Cells

2008 ◽  
Vol 1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janez Krc ◽  
Andrej Campa ◽  
Stefan L. Luxembourg ◽  
Miro Zeman ◽  
Marko Topic
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Photonic Crystal ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Periodic Structures ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Thin Film Silicon ◽  
Light Management

AbstractAdvanced light management in thin-film solar cells is important in order to improve the photo-current and, thus, to raise up the conversion efficiencies of the solar cells. In this article two types of periodic structures ¡V one-dimensional diffraction gratings and photonic crystals,are analyzed in the direction of showing their potential for improved light trapping in thin-film silicon solar cells. The anti-reflective effects and enhanced scattering at the gratings with the triangular and rectangular features are studied by means of two-dimensional optical simulations. Simulations of the complete microcrystalline solar cell incorporating the gratings at all interfaces are presented. Critical optical issues to be overcome for achieving the performances of the cells with the optimized randomly textured interfaces are pointed out. Reflectance measurements for the designed 12 layer photonic crystal stack consisting of amorphous silicon nitride and amorphous silicon layers are presented and compared with the simulations. High reflectance (up to 99 %) of the stack is measured for a broad wavelength spectrum. By means of optical simulations the potential for using a simple photonic crystal structure as a back reflector in an amorphous silicon solar cell is demonstrated.

scholarly journals Internal electric field and fill factor of amorphous silicon solar cells

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Stuckelberger ◽  
Arvind Shah ◽  
Janez Krc ◽  
Matthieu Despeisse ◽  
Fanny Meillaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Fill Factor ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Internal Electric Field

scholarly journals The Viability of Organic Dyes in Luminescent Down-Shifting Layers for the Enhancement of Si Solar Cell Efficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 995 ◽  
pp. 71-76
Author(s):  
Aaron Glenn ◽  
Conor Mc Loughlin ◽  
Hind Ahmed ◽  
Hoda Akbari ◽  
Subhash Chandra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Organic Dyes ◽  
Polyvinyl Butyral ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Si Solar Cell ◽  
Si Solar Cells

The main energy losses in solar cells are related to spectral losses where high energy photons are not used efficiently, and energy is lost via thermalization which reduces the solar cell’s overall efficiency. A way to tackle this is to introduce a luminescent down-shifting layer (LDS) to convert these high energy photons into a lower energy bracket helping the solar cell to absorb them and thus generating a greater power output. In this paper, lumogen dye Violet 570 has been used as LDS coated films of 10μm and 60μm placed on top of Si solar cells. The dye was incorporated into polymer films of Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) and Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) after which they were tested for their absorption, transmission and emission properties. Once optimised layers had been determined, they were deposited directly onto silicon solar cells and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the Si solar cells were measured with and without the LDS layers. The resulting graphs have shown an increase of up to 2.9% in the overall EQE efficiency after the lumogen films had been applied.

Stable Solar Cells Prepared from Dichlorosilane

1998 ◽  
Vol 507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Yamamoto ◽  
W. Futako ◽  
K. Fukutani ◽  
M. Hagino ◽  
T. Sugawara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Band Gap ◽  
Buffer Layers ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Hydrogen Dilution ◽  
Cell Structures ◽  
Reactive Plasma ◽  
Plasma Species

ABSTRACTAmorphous silicon films and solar cell i-layers were prepared from dichlorosilane(DCS) by ECR- and VHF-CVD. The hydrogen content, the chlorine content and the band gap could be controlled by varying argon and hydrogen dilution. The interaction of energetic and reactive plasma species with substrates and other previously deposited layers was studied. DCS, ECR-CVD causes darkening of TCO substrates even when buffer layers and/or doped layers were previously deposited by RF-CVD. Therefore n-i-p solar cell structures were prepared on NiCr and subsequent p-i-n solar cells were prepared with VHF-CVD which did not causeTCO reduction or other reactions in previously deposited amorphous layers. Preliminary results indicate that the VHF-CVD solar cells are at least as stable as standard amorphous silicon solar cells.

Efficiency Limitations of Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells Due to Defect Clusters

2005 ◽  
Vol 864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhushan Sopori ◽  
Chuan Li ◽  
S. Narayanan ◽  
D. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Multicrystalline Silicon ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Efficiency Loss ◽  
Defect Clusters ◽  
Si Solar Cell ◽  
Solar Cell Fabrication ◽  
Cell Fabrication ◽  
Large Clusters

AbstractMulticrystalline Si wafers used in commercial solar cell fabrication exhibit a tendency to form large “clusters” of defects, which remain laterally separated from each other. Defect clusters are also sites of impurity precipitation. Because precipitated impurities cannot be gettered by the conventional processes used in Si solar cell fabrication, defect clusters constitute low-performing regions in the cell. They shunt the device and constitute the primary efficiency limiting mechanism in current solar cells. We show that the efficiency loss caused by defect clusters can exceed 3–4 absolute points.

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