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Light Management Using Periodic Textures for Enhancing Photocurrent and Conversion Efficiency in Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2013

Hitoshi Sai ,
Takuya Matsui ,
Adrien Bidiville ,
Takashi Koida ,
Yuji Yoshida ,
Kimihiko Saito  and
Michio Kondo
Hitoshi Sai
Affiliation:
Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
Takuya Matsui
Affiliation:
Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
Adrien Bidiville
Affiliation:
Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
Takashi Koida
Affiliation:
Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
Yuji Yoshida
Affiliation:
Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
Kimihiko Saito
Affiliation:
Tsukuba Research Laboratory, Photovoltaic Power Generation Technology Research Association, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
Michio Kondo
Affiliation:
Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan.
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Abstract

Periodically textured back reflectors with hexagonal dimple arrays are applied to thin-film microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) solar cells for enhancing light trapping. The period and aspect ratio of the honeycomb textures have a big impact on the photovoltaic performance. When the textures have a moderate aspect ratio, the optimum period for obtaining a high short circuit current density (JSC) is found to be equal to or slightly larger than the cell thickness. If the cell thickness exceeds the texture period, the cell surface tends to be flattened and texture-induced defects are generated, which constrain the improvement in JSC. Based on these findings, we have fabricated optimized μc-Si:H cells achieving a high active-area efficiency exceeding 11% and a JSC of 30 mA/cm2.

Keywords

absorptionphotovoltaicthin film
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1536: Symposium A – Film Silicon Science and Technology , 2013 , pp. 3 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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