Improvement of solar cell performance and reversibility of ageing effects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells under illumination and electric field stress: Role of TCO and substrate

AbstractThin film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is widely used in photovoltaics. In order to get the best possible performance of the a-Si:H solar cells it is important to optimize the amorphous film and solar cells in terms their parameters such as mobility gap, p-, i- and n-layer doping levels, electron and hole lifetime and their mobilities, resistance of p-, i- and n-layers, contact grid geometry and parameters of the transparent conducting and antireflecting layers, and others. To maximize thin a-Si:H film based solar cell performance we have developed a general numerical formalism of photoconversion, which takes into account all the above parameters for the optimization. Application of the formalism is demonstrated for typical a-Si:H based solar cells before Staebler-Wronski (SW) light soaking effect. This general formalism is not limited to a-Si:H based systems only, and it can be applied to other types of solar cells as well.

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Defect Density Profiling in Light-Soaked and Annealed Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-664-a19.2 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 664 ◽

Author(s):

Richard S. Crandall ◽

Jeffrey Yang ◽

Subhendu Guha

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Central Region ◽

Defect Density ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous

ABSTRACTThe fundamental ingredient lacking in solar cell modeling is the spatial distribution of defects. To gain this information, we use drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP) on hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells. We find the following: Near the p-i interface the defect density is high, decreasing rapidly into the interior, reaching low values in the central region of the cell, and rising rapidly again at the n-i interface. The states in the central region are neutral dangling-bond defects whose density agrees with those typically found in similar films. However, those near the interfaces with the doped layers are charged dangling bonds in agreement with the predictions of defect thermodynamics. We correlate the changes in solar cell efficiency owing to intense illumination with changes in the defect density throughout the cell. Defects in the central region of the cell increase to values typically found in companion films. We describe the measurements and interpretation of DLCP for solar cells with the aid of a solar cell simulation.

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Open-Circuit Voltage Decay (OCVD) Measurement Applied to Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics ◽

10.1143/jjap.29.l27 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 29 (Part 2, No. 1) ◽

pp. L27-L29

Author(s):

Isao Sakata ◽

Yutaka Hayashi

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Voltage Decay ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous

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Experimental Investigation of the Change in the Efficiency of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells with Different Intrinsic Layer Thicknesses

Applied Solar Energy ◽

10.3103/s0003701x18040102 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 270-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. G. Komilov ◽

A. B. Tarasenko

Keyword(s):

Experimental Investigation ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous

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Numerical Design of Ultrathin Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon-Based Solar Cell

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2021/7506837 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

F. X. Abomo Abega ◽

A. Teyou Ngoupo ◽

J. M. B. Ndjaka

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Defect Density ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽

Theoretical Work ◽

Silicon Based ◽

The Impact ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous

Numerical modelling is used to confirm experimental and theoretical work. The aim of this work is to present how to simulate ultrathin hydrogenated amorphous silicon- (a-Si:H-) based solar cells with a ITO BRL in their architectures. The results obtained in this study come from SCAPS-1D software. In the first step, the comparison between the J-V characteristics of simulation and experiment of the ultrathin a-Si:H-based solar cell is in agreement. Secondly, to explore the impact of certain properties of the solar cell, investigations focus on the study of the influence of the intrinsic layer and the buffer layer/absorber interface on the electrical parameters ( J SC , V OC , FF, and η ). The increase of the intrinsic layer thickness improves performance, while the bulk defect density of the intrinsic layer and the surface defect density of the buffer layer/ i -(a-Si:H) interface, respectively, in the ranges [109 cm-3, 1015 cm-3] and [1010 cm-2, 5 × 10 13 cm-2], do not affect the performance of the ultrathin a-Si:H-based solar cell. Analysis also shows that with approximately 1 μm thickness of the intrinsic layer, the optimum conversion efficiency is 12.71% ( J SC = 18.95 mA · c m − 2 , V OC = 0.973 V , and FF = 68.95 % ). This work presents a contribution to improving the performance of a-Si-based solar cells.

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Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells with p-Type Silicon Carbon Window Layer

Crystals ◽

10.3390/cryst9080402 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 402 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Chia-Hsun Hsu ◽

Xiao-Ying Zhang ◽

Ming Jie Zhao ◽

Hai-Jun Lin ◽

Wen-Zhang Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Band Gap ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Computer Aided Design ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽

Wavelength Region ◽

Window Layer ◽

Solar Cell Performance ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous

Boron-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) thin films are deposited using high frequency 27.12 MHz plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system as a window layer of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. The CH4 gas flow rate is varied to deposit various a-SiC:H films, and the optical and electrical properties are investigated. The experimental results show that at the CH4 flow rate of 40 sccm the a-SiC:H has a high band gap of 2.1 eV and reduced absorption coefficients in the whole wavelength region, but the electrical conductivity deteriorates. The technology computer aided design simulation for SHJ devices reveal the band discontinuity at i/p interface when the a-SiC:H films are used. For fabricated SHJ solar cell performance, the highest conversion efficiency of 22.14%, which is 0.33% abs higher than that of conventional hydrogenated amorphous silicon window layer, can be obtained when the intermediate band gap (2 eV) a-SiC:H window layer is used.

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