Absorption enhancement in thin film a-Si solar cells with double-sided SiO_2 particle layers

Light absorption enhancement is very important for improving the power conversion efficiency of a thin film a-Si solar cell. In this paper, a thin-film a-Si solar cell model with double-sided SiO2 particle layers is designed, and then the underlying mechanism of absorption enhancement is investigated by finite difference time domain（FDTD） simulation;finally the feasible experimental scheme for preparing the SiO2 particle layer is discussed. It is found that the top and bottom SiO2 particle layers play an important role in anti-reflection and light trapping, respectively. The light absorption of the cell with double-sided SiO2 layers greatly increases in a wavelength range of 300 nm-800 nm, and the ultimate efficiency increases more than 22% compared with that of the flat device. The cell model with double-sided SiO2 particle layers reported here can be used in varieties of thin film solar cells to further improve their performances.

Improving the performance of crystalline Si solar cell by high-pressure hydrogenation

We report an approach of high-pressure hydrogenation to improve the performance of crystalline Si(c-Si) solar cells.As-received p-type c-Si wafer-based PN junctions were subjected to high-pressure(2.5 MPa) hydrogen atmosphere at 200 ℃,followed by evaporating antireflection layers,passivation layers,and front and rear electrodes.The efficiency of the so prepared c-Si solar cell was found to increase evidently after high-pressure hydrogenation,with a maximal enhancement of 10%.The incorporation of hydrogen by Si solar cells was identified,and hydrogen passivation of dangling bonds in Si was confirmed.Compared to the regular approach of hydrogen plasma passivation,the approach of high-pressure hydrogenation reported here needs no post-hydrogenation treatment,and can be more convenient and efficient to use in improving the performances of the c-Si and other solar cells.

Status of Selective Emitters for p-Type c-Si Solar Cells

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have the lion share in world PV market. Solar cells made from crystalline silicon have lower conversion efficiency, hence optimization of each process steps are very important. Achieving low-cost photovoltaic energy in the coming years will depend on the development of third-generation solar cells. Given the trend towards these Si materials, the most promising selective emitter methods are identified to date. Current industrial monocrystalline Cz Si solar cells based on screen-printing technology for contact formation and homogeneous emitter have an efficiency potential of around 18.4%. Limitations at the rear side by the fully covering Al-BSF can be changed by selective emitter designs allowing a decoupling and separate optimization of the metallised and non-metallised areas. Several selective emitter concepts that are already in industrial mass production or close to it are presented, and their specialties and status concerning cell performance are demonstrated. Key issues that are considered here are the cost-effectiveness, added complexity, additional benefits, reliability and efficiency potential of each selective emitter tech- niques.

A GQD-based composite film as photon down-converter in CNT/Si solar cells

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs), have unique quantum confinement effects, tunable bandgap and luminescence property, with a wide range of potential applications such as optoelectronic and biomedical areas. However, GQDs usually have a strong tendency toward aggregation especially in making solid films, which will degrade their optoelectronic properties, for example, causing undesired fluorescence quenching. Here, we designed a composite film by embedding GQDs in a polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) matrix through hydrogen bonding with well-preserved fluorescence, with a small addition of acid for compensating the poor conductivity of PVP. As a multifunctional solid coating on carbon nanotube/silicon (CNT/Si) solar cells, the photon down-conversion by GQDs and the PVP anti-reflection layer for visible light lead to enhanced external quantum efficiency (by 12.34% in the ultraviolet (UV) range) and cell efficiency (up to 14.94%). Such advanced optical managing enabled by low-cost, carbon-based quantum dots, as demonstrated in our results, can be applied to more versatile optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices based on perovskites, organic and other materials.

Evaluation and prediction of the degradation of space Si solar cells induced by a low-earth-orbit radiation environment

Space-graded silicon solar cells are evaluated by 1 MeV and 2 MeV electron-irradiation. The mean degradation of the maximum power （Pmax） is presented and anMyzed. The degradation at both electron energies has been correlated with the displacement damage dose （Dd）. A good linearity between the electron Dd and the mean Pmax degradation is obtained. The concept of Dd has Mso been used to predict the Si solar cell response in a low-earth-orbit （Altitude 799 km, Inclination 99~） radiation environment, considering the shielded effect of a 120 ~m-thick silica coverglass on reducing the radiation. Compared with the on-orbit data from a Si solar array of a Chinese satellite （duration from April 2007 to July 2010）, a good match can be found between the on-orbit data and the predicted results using Dd methodology, indicating the method is appropriate for evaluating the radiation damage of the solar cells, and also to provide a new technique for studying radiation effects on the optoelectronic detectors used in many high energy physics applications, where harsh radiation environments produce damage in optoelectronic device materials.

Performance improvement of c-Si solar cell by a combination of SiNx/SiOx passivation and double P-diffusion gettering treatment

SiNx/SiOx passivation and double side P-diffusion gettering treatment have been used for the fabrication of c-Si solar cells. The solar cells fabricated have high open circuit voltage and short circuit current after the double P-diffusion treatment. In addition to better surface passivation effect, SiNx/SiOx layer has lower reflectivity in long wavelength range than conventional SiNx film. As a consequence, such solar cells exhibit higher conversion efficiency and better internal quantum efficiency, compared with conventional c-Si solar cells.

Optical simulation of CsPbI_(3)/TOPCon tandem solar cells with advanced light management

Monolithic perovskite/Si tandem solar cells(TSCs)have experienced rapid development in recent years,demonstrating its potential to exceed the Shockley-Queisser limit of single junction Si solar cells.Unlike typical organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite/silicon heterojunction TSCs,here we propose CsPbI_(3)/TOPCon TSC,which is a promising architecture in consideration of its pleasurable thermal stability and good compatibility with current PERC production lines.The optical performance of CsPbI_(3)/TOPCon TSCs is simulated by the combination of ray-tracing method and transfer matrix method.The light management of the CsPbI_(3)/TOPCon TSC begins with the optimization of the surface texture on Si subcell,indicating that a bifacial inverted pyramid with a small bottom angle of rear-side enables a further minimization of the optical losses.Current matching between the subcells,as well as the parasitic absorption loss from the front transparent conductive oxide,is analyzed and discussed in detail.Finally,an optimized configuration of CsPbI_(3)/TOPCon TSC with a31.78%power conversion efficiency is proposed.This work provides a practical guidance for approaching high-efficiency perovskite/Si TSCs.

Composite electron transport layer for efficient N-I-P type monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells with high open-circuit voltage

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells(PSTSCs) have exhibited huge technological potential for breaking the Shockley-Queisser limit of single-junction solar cells. The efficiency of P-I-N type PSTSCs has surpassed the single-junction limit, while the performance of N-I-P type PSTSCs is far below the theoretical value. Here, we developed a composite electron transport layer for N-I-P type monolithic PSTSCs with enhanced open-circuit voltage(VOC) and power conversion efficiency(PCE). Lithium chloride(Li Cl) was added into the tin oxide(SnO_(2)) precursor solution, which simultaneously passivated the defects and increased the electron injection driving force at the electron transfer layer(ETL)/perovskite interface.Eventually, we achieved monolithic PSTSCs with an efficiency of 25.42% and V_(OC) of 1.92 V, which is the highest PCE and VOCin N-I-P type perovskite/Si tandem devices. This work on interface engineering for improving the PCE of monolithic PSTSCs may bring a new hot point about perovskite-based tandem devices.

Indium–tin oxide films obtained by DC magnetron sputtering for improved Si heterojunction solar cell applications

The indium-tin oxide （ITO） film as the antireflection layer and front electrodes is of key importance to obtaining high efficiency Si heterojunction （HJ） solar cells. To obtain high transmittance and low resistivity ITO films by direct-current （DC） magnetron sputtering, we studied the impacts of the ITO film deposition conditions, such as the oxygen flow rate, pressure, and sputter power, on the electrical and optical properties of the ITO films. ITO films of resistivity of 4 x 10-4 ~.m and average transmittance of 89% in the wavelength range of 380-780 nm were obtained under the optimized conditions： oxygen flow rate of 0.1 sccm, pressure of 0.8 Pa, and sputtering power of 110 W. These ITO films were used to fabricate the single-side HJ solar cell without an intrinsic a-Si：H layer. However, the best HJ solar cell was fabricated with a lower sputtering power of 95 W, which had an efficiency of 11.47%, an open circuit voltage （Voc） of 0.626 V, a filling factor （FF） of 0.50, and a short circuit current density （Jsc） of 36.4 mA/cm2. The decrease in the performance of the solar cell fabricated with high sputtering power of 110 W is attributed to the ion bombardment to the emitter. The Voc was improved to 0.673 V when a 5 nm thick intrinsic a-Si：H layer was inserted between the （p） a-Si：H and （n） c-Si layer. The higher Voc of 0.673 V for the single-side HJ solar cell implies the excellent c-Si surface passivation by a-Si：H.

Hydrogen Passivation in Mc-Si for Solar Cells

The effect of hydrogen passivation on multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) used for solar cells is described, and the mechanism of hydrogen diffusion and passivation is also investigated. Then, the hydrogen passivation processes applied in industries and research laboratories are introduced. Finally the existing problems and the prospects of hydrogen passivation are reviewed.

Loss Analysis of High-Efficiency Perovskite/Si Tandem Solar Cells for Large Market Applications

The Si tandem solar cells composes of III-V, II-VI, chalcogenide and perovskite top cells and Si bottom cells are very attractive for creation of new markets. The perovskite/Si tandem solar cells are thought to be one of the most promising PV devices because of high-efficiency and low-cost potential. However, efficiencies of perovskite/Si tandem solar cells with an efficiency of 29.8% are lower compared to 39.5% with III-V 3-junction tandem solar cells and 35.9% with III-V/Si 3-junction tandem solar cells. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify and reduce several losses of perovskite/Si tandem solar cells. This paper presents high efficiency potential of perovskite/Si tandem solar cells analyzed by using our analytical procedure and discusses about non-radiative recombination, optical and resistance losses in those tandem solar cells. The perovskite/Si 2-junction tandem solar cells is shown to have efficiency potential of 37.4% as a result of non-radiative recombination loss of 2.3%, optical loss of 2.7% and resistance loss of 3.1%. Although the perovskite/Si 3-junction tandem solar cells are thought to be very attractive because of higher efficiency with an efficiency of more than 42%, decreasing non-radiative recombination loss in wide bandgap perovskite solar cell materials is pointed out to be necessary.

Research on the optimum hydrogenated silicon thin films for application in solar cells

Hydrogenated silicon （Si：H） thin films for application in solar ceils were deposited by using very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （VHF PECVD） at a substrate temperature of about 170 ℃, The electrical, structural, and optical properties of the films were investigated. The deposited films were then applied as i-layers for p-i-n single junction solar cells. The current-voltage （I - V） characteristics of the cells were measured before and after the light soaking. The results suggest that the films deposited near the transition region have an optimum properties for application in solar cells. The cell with an i-layer prepared near the transition region shows the best stable performance.

Approaches for High-Efficiency III-V/Si Tandem Solar Cells

The Si tandem solar cells are very attractive for realizing high efficiency and low cost. This paper overviews current status of III-V/Si tandem solar cells including our results. The analytical results for efficiency potential of Si tandem solar cells and loss analysis of Si bottom cells as well as bandgap energy optimization of sub-cells are presented. The 2-junction and 3-junction Si tandem solar cells have potential efficiencies of 36% and 42%, respectively. ERE (external radiative efficiency) analysis for Si solar cells is analyzed in order to clarify properties of Si bottom solar cells. Properties of single-crystalline Si heterojunction solar cell fabricated in this study were analyzed. The current status of efficiencies of our Si bottom cell, upper III-V 2-junction solar cell and III-V/Si 3-junction tandem solar cell was shown to be 5.2% and 28.6% and 33.8%. Achievement of Jsc of 12 mA/cm2 for Si bottom cell is necessary to realize high-efficiency 3-junction Si tandem solar cells with an efficiency of more than 37%. In addition, this paper presents ERE analysis of III-V 2-junction upper solar cells for improving III-V/Si 3-junction tandem solar cells. Several ways to improve efficiency of III-V/Si 3-junction tandem solar cells by reducing non-radiative recombination, optical and resistance losses are shown.

Spherical silicon solar cell with reflector cup fabricated by decompression dropping method

A spherical Si solar cell with a reflector cup was successfully fabricated by a dropping method at decompression state. In the dropping method, melted Si droplets were instilled at decompression state (0.5×105 Pa) to reduce crystal growth rate, dominating crystal quality such as dislocation density in crystal grains. Spherical Si solar cells were fabricated using the spherical Si crystals with a diameter of 1 mm and then mounted on a reflector cup. The current-voltage measurement of the solar cell shows an energy conversion efficiency of 11.1% (short-circuit current density (Jsc): 24.7 mA·cm-2, open-circuit voltage: 601 mV, fill factor: 74.6%). Minority carrier diffusion length determined by surface photovoltage method was 98 μm. This value can be enhanced by the improvement of crystal quality of spherical Si crystals. These results demonstrate that spherical Si crystals fabricated by the dropping method has a great potential for substrate material of high-efficiency and low-cost solar cells.

Simulation analysis of a high efficiency GaInP/Si multijunction solar cell

The solar power conversion efficiency of a gallium indium phosphide(GaInP)/silicon(Si)tandem solar cell has been investigated by means of a physical device simulator considering both mechanically stacked and monolithic structures.In particular,to interconnect the bottom and top sub-cells of the monolithic tandem,a gallium arsenide(GaAs)-based tunnel-junction,i.e.GaAs(n+)/GaAs(p+),which assures a low electrical resistance and an optically low-loss connection,has been considered.The J–V characteristics of the single junction cells,monolithic tandem,and mechanically stacked structure have been calculated extracting the main photovoltaic parameters.An analysis of the tunnel-junction behaviour has been also developed.The mechanically stacked cell achieves an efficiency of 24.27%whereas the monolithic tandem reaches an efficiency of 31.11%under AM1.5 spectral conditions.External quantum efficiency simulations have evaluated the useful wavelength range.The results and discussion could be helpful in designing high efficiency monolithic multijunction GaInP/Si solar cells involving a thin GaAs(n+)/GaAs(p+)tunnel junction.

a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells on SiSiC ceramic substrates

Silicon thin-film solar cells are considered to be one of the most promising cells in the future for their potential advantages, such as low cost, high efficiency, great stability, simple processing, and none-pollution. In this paper, latest progress on poly-crystalline silicon solar cells on ceramic substrates achieved by our group was reported. Rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) was used to deposited poly-crystalline silicon thin films, and the grains of as-grown film were enlarged by Zone-melting Recrystallization (ZMR). As a great change in cell′s structure, traditional diffused pn homojunction was replaced by a-Si/c-Si heterojunction, which lead is to distinct improvement in cell′s efficiency. A conversion efficiency of 3.42% has been achieved on 1 cm2 a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cell (Isc=16.93 mA, Voc=310.9 mV, FF=0.6493, AM=1.5 G, 24 ℃), while the cell with diffused homojunction only got an efficiency of 0.6%. It indicates that a-Si emitter formed at low temperature might be more suitable for thin film cell on ceramics.

The Effects of Fabrication Prameters and Electroforming Phenomenon on CdTe/Si (p) Heterojunction Photovoltaic Solar Cell

The In-doped CdTe/Si (p) heterostruture was fabricated and its electrical and photoelectrical properties were studied and interpreted. During the fabrication processes of CdTe/Si heterojunction, some practical troubles were encountered. However, the important one was the formation of the SiO2 thin oxide layer on the soft surface of the Si during the formation of the back contact. The silicon wafer was subjected to different chemical treatments in order to remove the thin oxide layer from the silicon wafer surfaces. It was found that the heterojunction with Si (p+) substrate gave relatively high open circuit voltage comparing with that of Si (p) substrate. Also an electroforming phenomenon had been observed in this structure for the first time which may be considered as a memory effect. It was observed that there are two states of conduction, non-conducting state and conducting state. The normal case is the non-conducting state. As the forward applied voltage increased beyond threshold value, it switches into the conducting state and remains in this state even after the voltage drops to zero.

Simulation of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells: From planar junction to local junction

In order to obtain higher conversion efficiency and to reduce production cost for hydrogenated amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon(a-Si:H/c-Si) based heterojunction solar cells, an a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction with localized p–n structure(HACL) is designed. A numerical simulation is performed with the ATLAS program. The effect of the a-Si:H layer on the performance of the HIT(heterojunction with intrinsic thin film) solar cell is investigated. The performance improvement mechanism for the HACL cell is explored. The potential performance of the HACL solar cell is compared with those of the HIT and HACD(heterojunction of amorphous silicon and crystalline silicon with diffused junction) solar cells.The simulated results indicate that the a-Si:H layer can bring about much absorption loss. The conversion efficiency and the short-circuit current density of the HACL cell can reach 28.18% and 43.06 m A/cm^2, respectively, and are higher than those of the HIT and HACD solar cells. The great improvement are attributed to(1) decrease of optical absorption loss of a-Si:H and(2) decrease of photocarrier recombination for the HACL cell. The double-side local junction is very suitable for the bifacial solar cells. For an HACL cell with n-type or p-type c-Si base, all n-type or p-type c-Si passivating layers are feasible for convenience of the double-side diffusion process. Moreover, the HACL structure can reduce the consumption of rare materials since the transparent conductive oxide(TCO) can be free in this structure. It is concluded that the HACL solar cell is a promising structure for high efficiency and low cost.

Effect of H treatment on performance of HIT solar cells

Hydrogen is a ubiquitous element in semiconductor processing and particularly in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon where it plays a crucial role in the growth processes as well as in the material properties. Because of its low mass it can easily diffuse through the silicon network and leads to the passivation of dangling bonds but it may also play a role in the stabilization of metastable defects. Thus a lot of work has been devoted to the study of hydrogen diffusion, bonding and structure in disordered semiconductors. The sequence, deposition-exposure to H plasma-deposition was used to fabricate the microcrystalline emitter. A proper atomic H pretreatment of c-Si surface before depositions i layer was expected to clean the surface and passivatates the surface states, as a result improing the device parameters. In this study, H2 pretreatment of c-si surface was used at different time, power and temperature. It is found that a proper H pretreatment improves passivation of c-si surface and improves the device parameters by AFM and testing I-V.

TOPCon太阳电池单面沉积Poly-Si的工艺研究

目前隧穿氧化层钝化接触(TOPCon)电池制造技术越来越成熟,所耗成本不断降低。行业内普遍采用低压化学气相沉积(LPCVD)方式进行双面沉积或单面沉积。单面沉积存在Poly-Si绕镀问题,严重影响电池片转化效率和外观质量,同时正面绕镀层去除难度较大,在用碱溶液去除绕镀层的同时,存在绕镀层去除不彻底或者非绕镀区域P^(+)层被腐蚀的风险,导致P^(+)发射极受损,严重影响电池片外观质量与性能。双面沉积可避免上述问题,但产能减少一半,制造成本增加。本文对单面沉积Poly-Si工艺及绕镀层去除工艺进行研究,在TOPCon电池正面及背面制作了一层合适厚度的氧化层掩膜,搭配合适的清洗工艺、去绕镀清洗工艺,既可有效地去除P^(+)层绕镀的Poly-Si,也可很好地保护正面P^(+)层及背面掺杂Poly-Si层不受破坏,同时可大幅提升产能。