Thin-film silicon-based quadruple junction solar cells approaching 20% conversion efficiency

Bias-free solar water splitting is demonstrated using thin film silicon based triple and quadruple junction solar cells with solar-to-hydrogen efficiencies up to 9.5%.

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Surface-Plasmon Enhanced Near-Bandgap Light Absorption in Silicon Photovoltaics

ASME 2008 3rd Energy Nanotechnology International Conference ◽

10.1115/enic2008-53056 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Lu Hu ◽

Xiaoyuan Chen ◽

Gang Chen

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Light Trapping ◽

Large Fraction ◽

Solar Spectrum ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Long Wavelength ◽

Thin Film Silicon ◽

Silicon Photovoltaics ◽

Silicon Based

One key challenge for silicon-based solar cells is the weak absorption of long-wavelength photons near the bandgap (1.1eV) due to the indirect bandgap of silicon. A large fraction of the AM 1.5 solar spectrum falls into a regime (0.7 μm – 1.1 μm) where silicon does not absorb light well. The capture of these long-wavelength photons imposes a particular problem to the thin-film silicon solar cells. For this reason, thin-film silicon solar cells often incorporate some forms of light trapping mechanisms.

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Improvement of the conversion efficiency and power of thin film silicon solar cells by embedding metallic nanostructures in depletion region

Optik ◽

10.1016/j.ijleo.2016.06.100 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 127 (20) ◽

pp. 8988-8994 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

S. Foroutan ◽

G. Rostami ◽

M. Dolatyari ◽

A. Rostami

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

Metallic Nanostructures ◽

Depletion Region ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Thin Film Silicon

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Amorphous silicon–germanium for triple and quadruple junction thin-film silicon based solar cells

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells ◽

10.1016/j.solmat.2014.11.006 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 133 ◽

pp. 163-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Jan-Willem Schüttauf ◽

Bjoern Niesen ◽

Linus Löfgren ◽

Maximilien Bonnet-Eymard ◽

Michael Stuckelberger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Silicon Germanium ◽

Thin Film Silicon ◽

Silicon Based ◽

Amorphous Silicon Germanium

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THIN FILM SILICON SOLAR CELLS UNDER MODERATE CONCENTRATION

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2011.803 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1321 ◽

Author(s):

L.M. van Dam ◽

W.G.J.H.M. van Sark ◽

R.E.I. Schropp

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Fill Factor ◽

Defect Density ◽

Nanocrystalline Silicon ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Thin Film Silicon ◽

Fast Decline ◽

Silicon Materials ◽

Silicon Based

ABSTRACTThere are only very few reports on the effects of concentration in thin film silicon-based solar cells. Due to the presence of midgap states, a fast decline in fill factor was observed in earlier work. However, with the advent of more stable and lower defect density protocrystalline silicon materials as well as high quality micro-/nanocrystalline silicon materials, it is worth revisiting the performance of cells with these absorber layers under moderately concentrated sunlight. We determined the behavior of the external J-V parameters of pre-stabilized substrate-type (n-i-p) amorphous and microcrystalline solar cells under moderate concentrations, between 1 sun and 21 suns, while maintaining the cell temperature at 25oC. It was found that the cell efficiency of both the amorphous and the microcrystalline cells increased with moderate concentration, showing an optimum at approximately 2 suns. Furthermore, the enhancement in efficiency for the microcrystalline cells was larger than for the amorphous cells. We show that the Voc’s up to 0.63 V can be reached in microcrystalline cells while FF’s only decrease by 9%. The effects have also been computed using the device simulator ASA, showing qualitative agreement.

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