Review and perspective of materials for flexible solar cells

Thin-film flexible solar cells are lightweight and mechanically robust.Along with rapidly advancing battery technology,flexible solar panels are expected to create niche products that require lightweight,mechanical flexibility,and moldability into complex shapes,such as roof-panel for electric automobiles,foldable umbrellas,camping tents,etc.In this paper,we provide a comprehensive assessment of relevant materials suitable for making flexible solar cells.Substrate materials reviewed include metals,ceramics,glasses,and plastics.For active materials,we focus primarily on emerging new semiconductors including small organic donor/acceptor molecules,conjugated donor/acceptor polymers,and organometal halide perovskites.For electrode materials,transparent conducting oxides,thin metal films/nanowires,nanocarbons,and conducting polymers are reviewed.We also discuss the merits,weaknesses,and future perspectives of these materials for developing next-generation flexible photovoltaics.

Open-circuit voltage analysis of p-i-n type amorphous silicon solar cells deposited at low temperature

This paper identifies the contributions of p-a-SiC：H layers and i-a-Si：H layers to the open circuit voltage of p-i-n type a-Si：H solar cells deposited at a low temperature of 125℃. We find that poor quality p-a-SiC：H films under regular conditions lead to a restriction of open circuit voltage although the band gap of the i-layer varies widely. A significant improvement in open circuit voltage has been obtained by using high quality p-~SiC：H films optimized at the ＂low-power regime＂ under low silane flow rates and high hydrogen dilution conditions.

Comparison between Amorphous and Tandem Silicon Solar Cells in Practical Use

Solar cells are now widely used as a clean method for electric energy generation. Among various type of solar cells, we compared the ability between amorphous and tandem (amorphous and polycrystalline) silicon solar cells by means of simultaneous running test. This kind of comparison is of importance practically, because the comparison of only inherent characteristics cannot include environmental parameters such as temperature totally. It was concluded that both types of solar cells provided almost the same energy for one year. The amorphous silicon solar cell provided more energy in summer while the tandem solar cell was advantageous in winter. It is due to the fact that the decrease in energy conversion at the higher cell temperature is more noticeable in tandem solar cells.

Properties of boron doped ZnO films prepared by reactive sputtering method: Application to amorphous silicon thin film solar cells

Reactive sputtered boron-doped zinc oxide(BZO) film was deposited from argon,hydrogen and boron gas mixture.The reactive sputtering technique provides us the flexibility of changing the boron concentration in the produced films by using the same intrinsic zinc oxide target.Textured surface was obtained in the as-deposited films.The surface morphology and the opto-electronic properties of the films can be controlled by simply varying the gas concentration ratio.By varying the gas concentration ratio,the best obtained resistivity ~6.51×10^-4Ω-cm,mobility ~19.05 cm^2 V^-1 s^-1 and sheet resistance ~7.23Ω/□ were obtained.At lower wavelength of light,the response of the deposited films improves with the increase of boron in the gas mixture and the overall transmission in the wavelength region 350-1100 nm of all the films are>85 %.We also fabricated amorphous silicon(a-Si) thin film solar cell on the best obtained BZO layers.The overall efficiency of the a-Si solar cell is 8.14 %,found on optimized BZO layer.

Influence of using amorphous silicon stack as front heterojunction structure on performance of interdigitated back contact-heterojunction solar cell （IBC-HJ）

Interdigitated back contact-heterojunction （IBC-HJ） solar cells can have a conversion efficiency of over 25%. However, the front surface passivation and structure have a great influence on the properties of the IBC-HJ solar cell. In this paper, detailed numerical simulations have been performed to investigate the potential of front surface field （FSF） offered by stack of n-type doped and intrinsic amorphous silicon （a-Si） layers on the front surface of IBC-HJ solar cells. Simulations results clearly indicate that the electric field of FSF should be strong enough to repel minority carries and cumulate major carriers near the front surface. However, the overstrong electric field tends to drive electrons into a-Si layer, leading to severe recombination loss. The n-type doped amorphous silicon （n-a-Si） layer has been optimized in terms of doping level and thickness. The optimized intrinsic amorphous silicon （i-a-Si） layer should be as thin as possible with an energy band gap （Es） larger than 1.4 eV. In addition, the simulations concerning interface defects strongly suggest that FSF is essential when the front surface is not passivated perfectly. Without FSF, the IBC-HJ solar cells may become more sensitive to interface defect density.

Micromorph tandem solar cells: optimization of the microcrystalline silicon bottom cell in a single chamber system

We report on the development of single chamber deposition of microcrystalline and micromorph tandem solar cells directly onto low-cost glass substrates. The cells have pin single-junction or pin/pin double-junction structures on glass substrates coated with a transparent conductive oxide layer such as SnO2 or ZnO. By controlling boron and phosphorus contaminations, a single-junction microcrystalline silicon cell with a conversion efficiency of 7.47% is achieved with an i-layer thickness of 1.2 μm. In tandem devices, by thickness optimization of the microcrystalline silicon bottom solar cell, we obtained an initial conversion efficiency of 9.91% with an aluminum （Al） back reflector without a dielectric layer. In order to enhance the performance of the tandem solar cells, an improved light trapping structure with a ZnO/Al back reflector is used. As a result, a tandem solar cell with 11.04% of initial conversion efficiency has been obtained.

mc-Si:H/c-Si solar cell prepared by PECVD

Hetero-junction solar cells with an mc-Si:H window layer were achieved. The open voltage is increased while short current is decreased with increasing the mc-Si:H layer′s thickness of emitter layer. The highest of Voc of 597 mV has obtained. When fixed the thickness of 30 nm, changing the N type from amorphous silicon layer to micro-crystalline layer, the efficiency of the hetero-junction solar cells is increased. Although the hydrogen etching before deposition enables the c-Si substrates to become rough by AFM images, it enhances the formation of epitaxial-like micro-crystalline silicon and better parameters of solar cell can be obtained by implying this process. The best result of efficiency is 13.86% with the Voc of 549.8 mV, Jsc of 32.19 mA·cm-2 and the cell′s area of 1 cm2.

Fabrication and Characterization of Poly[Decaphenylcyclopentasilane]-Based Solar Cells

Poly[decaphenylcyclopentasilane] (PDPS)-based photovoltaic cells were fabricated by using mixture solution of PDPS including boron and phosphorous elements. A doping effect of phosphorus and boron into PDPS was investigated on the performance of the photovoltaic devices. The solar cell provided short-circuit current density of 0.11 mA/cm2 and open-circuit voltage of 0.81 V under simulated sunlight. Microstructural analysis indicated that PDPS had an amor-phous structure, which would result in the photovoltaic properties.

Analysis of the p^+/p window layer of thin film solar cells by simulation

The application of a p~＋/p configuration in the window layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film solar cells is simulated and analyzed utilizing an AMPS-ID program.The differences between p~＋-p-i-n configuration solar cells and p-i-n configuration solar cells are pointed out.The effects of dopant concentration, thickness of p~＋-layer,contact barrier height and defect density on solar cells are analyzed.Our results indicate that solar cells with a p~＋-p-i-n configuration have a better performance.The open circuit voltage and short circuit current were improved by increasing the dopant concentration of the p~＋ layer and lowering the front contact barrier height.The defect density at the p/i interface which exceeds two orders of magnitude in the intrinsic layer will deteriorate the cell property.

Ultrathin microcrystalline hydrogenated Si/Ge alloyed tandem solar cells towards full solar spectrum conversion

Thin film solar cells have been proved the next generation photovoltaic devices due to their low cost,less material consumption and easy mass production.Among them,micro-crystalline Si and Ge based thin film solar cells have advantages of high efficiency and ultrathin absorber layers.Yet individual junction devices are limited in photoelectric conversion efficiency because of the restricted solar spectrum range for its specific absorber.In this work,w e designed a nd simulated a multi-junction solar cell with its four sub-cells selectively absorbing the full solar spectrum including the ultraviolet,green,red as well as near infrared range,respectively.B y tuning the G e content,the record efficiency of 24.80%has been realized with the typical quadruple junction structure of a-Si:H/a-Si0.9Ge0.1:H/μc-Si:H/μc-Si0.5Ge0.5:H.To further reduce the material cost,thickness dependent device performances have been conducted.It can be found that the design of total thickness of 4μm is the optimal device design in balancing the thickness a nd the PCE.While the design of ultrathin quadruple junction device with total thickness of 2μm is the optimized device design regarding cost and long-term stability with a little bit more reduction in PCE.These results indicated that our solar cells combine the advantages of low cost and high stability.Our work may provide a general guidance rule of utilizing the full solar spectrum for developing high efficiency and ultrathin multi-junction solar cells.

Influence of absorber doping in a-SiC:H/a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H solar cells

This work deals with the design evaluation and influence of absorber doping for aSi：H/aSiC：H/a SiGe：H based thinfilm solar cells using a twodimensional computer aided design （TCAD） tool. Various physical parameters of the layered structure, such as doping and thickness of the absorber layer, have been studied. For reliable device simulation with realistic predictability, the device performance is evaluated by implementing nec essary models （e.g., surface recombinations, thermionic field emission tunneling model for carrier transport at the heterojunction, SchokleyRead Hall recombination model, Auger recombination model, bandgap narrowing ef fects, doping and temperature dependent mobility model and using FermiDirac statistics）. A single absorber with a graded design gives an efficiency of 10.1% for 800 nm thick multiband absorption. Similarly, a tandem design shows an efficiency of 10.4% with a total absorber of thickness of 800 nm at a bandgap of 1.75 eV and 1.0 eV for the top aSi and bottom aSiGe component cells. A moderate ndoping in the absorber helps to improve the efficiency while p doping in the absorber degrades efficiency due to a decrease in the Voc （and fill factor） of the device.

Effects of Nanostructured Back Reflectors on the External Quantum Efficiency in Thin Film Solar Cells

Hydrogenated 非结晶的 Si (-Si:H) 由于它的低费用，高丰富，长一生，和非毒性是为光电的应用的有希望的材料。我们表明设计在光电的设备在量效率上调查 nanostructured 背反射镜的效果的一台设备。我们采用一种 superstrate 配置以便我们可以使用为比较作为一本参考书为薄电影太阳能电池套住策略的常规工业光。我们经由晶片规模控制了 nanostructure 参数自己组装技术并且系统地学习了在 nanostructure 之间的关系尺寸和光电流产生。在与减少的 nanostructure 规模红移动的显示出的短波长的获得 / 损失转变。在红外线的区域， nanostructured 背反射镜与修改特征规模显示出大光电流改进。这设备几何学是为由 nanostructures 调查吸收改进的一个有用原型。

n-nc-Si:H低温制备工艺及其在柔性钙钛矿太阳电池中的应用

【目的】为在低温工艺下制备出适用于柔性钙钛矿太阳电池的高性能电子传输层,需要对电子传输层材料及制备条件进行研究。【方法】将n型氢化纳米晶硅薄膜作为柔性钙钛矿太阳电池电子传输层,研究衬底温度对薄膜性能的影响,并优化电子传输层与钙钛矿层界面处理工艺和结构。【结果】得到暗电导率、光透过率、表面形貌适用于柔性钙钛矿太阳电池电子传输层的n型氢化纳米晶硅薄膜低温制备条件,经过界面优化处理的柔性钙钛矿太阳电池转换效率达到14.66%。【结论】在低温工艺下制备出了高性能的电子传输层及柔性钙钛矿太阳电池,对进一步开展叠层钙钛矿太阳电池的研究具有指导意义。

p-a-SiC:H降低晶体硅异质结太阳能电池寄生损失的研究

使用宽带隙的p型氢化非晶硅碳(p-a-SiC:H)薄膜作为晶体硅异质结(SHJ)太阳能电池的窗口层,使用时域有限差分法(FDTD)模拟证明,p-a-SiC:H不仅能明显降低窗口层的短波寄生吸收损失,而且可以减少SHJ太阳能电池的反射损失,从而增强SHJ太阳能电池的光谱响应。实验结果也证明,使用优化的p-a-SiC:H窗口层可以提升SHJ太阳能电池的短路电流(J_(sc))达1.4 mA/cm^(2),电池光电转化效率达到了21.8%。这主要是由于p-a-SiC:H低的寄生吸收以及使用p-a-SiC:H窗口层降低了SHJ太阳能电池的反射损失所致。

高效背结异质结太阳电池硼掺杂非晶硅发射极研究

晶硅/非晶硅异质结(HJT)太阳电池由于具有高开压、高转换效率和低温度系数等优点而备受关注,其中硼掺杂p型非晶硅(p-a-Si∶H)发射极是高转换效率电池中不可忽视的重要部分,改变其硼掺杂浓度,可以调节p-layer薄膜的电学特性,从而直接影响电池转换效率。本文采用等离子体增强化学气相沉积(PECVD)设备制备HJT太阳电池,通过改变B_(2)H_(6)的掺杂浓度,对电池中p-a-Si∶H层进行优化,使HJT电池获得0.75%的相对效率提升。进一步地,将发射极设置为梯度掺杂的双层结构,经过优化,少子寿命(@Δn=5×10^(15)cm^(-3))和隐开路电压(@1-Sun)分别提升400μs和3 mV,最终具有梯度掺杂发射极的电池其平均效率相对提升2.03%,主要表现为FF和Voc的明显增加,实现了高效HJT电池p型发射极的工艺优化。

新型石墨舟等离子体清洗设备的工艺效果与优势

新型石墨舟等离子体清洗设备能有效减少清洗时间,减少了非晶硅沉积工艺中磷烷的用量,提高了隧穿氧化层钝化接触(TOPCon)电池转换效率,具有很大的竞争优势。研究了等离子体清洗工艺参数对电池转换效率的影响,得到了最佳的石墨舟等离子体清洗工艺参数,即:石墨舟温度300℃、清洗时间150 min,将非晶硅沉积工艺中磷烷的流量减半,制备的TOPCon电池转换效率达24.154%,比湿法设备高0.033%。

本征氢化非晶硅薄膜厚度对其钝化性能和HIT太阳电池电性能的影响

以异质结(HIT)太阳电池的本征氢化非晶硅薄膜为研究对象,该HIT太阳电池采用n型硅片作为晶硅衬底,其n型电子传输层(下文简称为“n面”)为入光侧,p型空穴传输层(下文简称为“p面”)为背光侧。首先研究了n面和p面本征氢化非晶硅薄膜的厚度对膜层钝化性能和光透过率的影响,然后进一步研究了n面和p面本征氢化非晶硅薄膜不同厚度匹配设计对HIT太阳电池电性能的影响,并选出了最优厚度匹配方案。研究结果表明:1)n面本征氢化非晶硅薄膜的厚度越薄,n面非晶硅膜层的光透过率越高,但钝化效果会变差;当厚度达到5 nm时,硅片的少子寿命趋于稳定。2)在n面本征氢化非晶硅薄膜厚度一定的情况下,随着p面本征氢化非晶硅薄膜的厚度变厚,硅片的少子寿命先快速增加,当厚度达到9 nm时,硅片的少子寿命趋于稳定;当厚度大于9 nm时,制备的HIT太阳电池的短路电流和填充因子均下降,表明其串联电阻增大,导致光电转换效率降低。3)当n面和p面本征氢化非晶硅薄膜的厚度分别为5、9 nm时,n面的钝化效果和光透过率匹配较好,p面的钝化效果和电阻率匹配最优,即为最优厚度匹配方案;此方案制备得到的HIT太阳电池的光电转换效率达到最高,为24.59%。