Enhancement of Spectral Response inμc-Si1-xGex:H Thin-Film Solar Cells with a-Si:H/μc-Si:H P-Type Window Layers

The hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)/hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) double p-type window layer has been developed and applied for improving microcrystalline silicon-germanium p-i-n single-junction thin-film solar cells deposited on textured SnO2:F-coated glass substrates. The substrates of SnO2:F, SnO2:F/μc-Si:H(p), and SnO2:F/a-Si:H(p) were exposed to H2plasma to investigate the property change. Our results showed that capping a thin layer of a-Si:H(p) on SnO2:F can minimize the Sn reduction during the deposition process which had H2-containing plasma. Optical measurement has also revealed that a-Si:H(p) capped SnO2:F glass had a higher optical transmittance. When the 20 nmμc-Si:H(p) layer was replaced by a 3 nm a-Si:H(p)/17 nmμc-Si:H(p) double window layer in the cell, the conversion efficiency (η) and the short-circuit current density (JSC) were increased by 16.6% and 16.4%, respectively. Compared to the standard cell with the 20 nmμc-Si:H(p) window layer, an improved conversion efficiency of 6.19% can be obtained for the cell having a-Si:H(p)/μc-Si:H(p) window layer, withVOC = 490 mV,JSC = 19.50 mA/cm2, and FF = 64.83%.

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Wide-Range Enhancement of Spectral Response by Highly Conductive and Transparentμc-SiOx:H Doped Layers inμc-Si:H and a-Si:H/μc-Si:H Thin-Film Solar Cells

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2016/8172518 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Pei-Ling Chen ◽

Po-Wei Chen ◽

Min-Wen Hsiao ◽

Cheng-Hang Hsu ◽

Chuang-Chuang Tsai

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Spectral Response ◽

Wavelength Region ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Window Layer ◽

Efficiency Gain ◽

Silicon Thin Film ◽

Single Junction ◽

Wide Range

The enhancement of optical absorption of silicon thin-film solar cells by the p- and n-typeμc-SiOx:H as doped and functional layers was presented. The effects of deposition conditions and oxygen content on optical, electrical, and structural properties ofμc-SiOx:H films were also discussed. Regarding the dopedμc-SiOx:H films, the wide optical band gap (E04) of 2.33 eV while maintaining a high conductivity of 0.2 S/cm could be obtained with oxygen incorporation of 20 at.%. Compared to the conventionalμc-Si:H(p) as window layer inμc-Si:H single-junction solar cells, the application ofμc-SiOx:H(p) increased theVOCand led to a significant enhancement in the short-wavelength spectral response. Meanwhile, the employment ofμc-SiOx:H(n) instead of conventional ITO as back reflecting layer (BRL) enhanced the external quantum efficiency (EQE) ofμc-Si:H single-junction cell in the long-wavelength region, leading to a relative efficiency gain of 10%. Compared to the reference cell, the optimized a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem cell by applying p- and n-typeμc-SiOx:H films achieved aVOCof 1.37 V,JSCof 10.55 mA/cm2, FF of 73.67%, and efficiency of 10.51%, which was a relative enhancement of 16%.

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Aluminum doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide films deposited by VHF-PECVD for p-type window layer of silicon based thin-film solar cells

2010 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference ◽

10.1109/pvsc.2010.5615844 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Daisuke Hamashita ◽

Shinsuke Miyajima ◽

Akira Yamada ◽

Makoto Konagai

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Silicon Carbide ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Window Layer ◽

P Type ◽

Silicon Based ◽

Cubic Silicon Carbide

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Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2015/358276 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yunfeng Yin ◽

Nasim Sahraei ◽

Selvaraj Venkataraj ◽

Sonya Calnan ◽

Sven Ring ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Optical Scattering ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Surface Topology ◽

Microcrystalline Silicon ◽

Silicon Thin Film ◽

Wide Range

Microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells are processed on glass superstrates having both micro- and nanoscale surface textures. The microscale texture is realised at the glass surface, using the aluminium-induced texturing (AIT) method, which is an industrially feasible process enabling a wide range of surface feature sizes (i.e., 700 nm–3 μm) of the textured glass. The nanoscale texture is made by conventional acid etching of the sputter-deposited transparent conductive oxide (TCO). The influence of the resulting “double texture” on the optical scattering is investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) (studying the surface topology), haze measurements (studying scattering into air), and short-circuit current enhancement measurements (studying scattering into silicon). A predicted enhanced optical scattering efficiency is experimentally proven by a short-circuit current enhancementΔIscof up to 1.6 mA/cm2(7.7% relative increase) compared to solar cells fabricated on a standard superstrate, that is, planar glass covered with nanotextured TCO. Enhancing the autocorrelation length (or feature size) of the AIT superstrates might have the large potential to improve theμc-Si:H thin-film solar cell efficiency, by reducing the shunting probability of the device while maintaining a high optical scattering performance.

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Multi-layered hydrogenated p-type microcrystalline silicon windows for a-Si:H thin film solar cells on opaque substrates

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy ◽

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.03.011 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 41 (15) ◽

pp. 6240-6246 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yoo Jeong Lee ◽

Seoung Hyun Lee ◽

Ruud E.I. Schropp ◽

Kyu-Sung Lee ◽

Jung Wook Lim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Microcrystalline Silicon ◽

P Type

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Investigation of improved conversion efficiency of microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells

Acta Physica Sinica ◽

10.7498/aps.55.6697 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 55 (12) ◽

pp. 6697

Author(s):

Zhang Xiao-Dan ◽

Zhao Ying ◽

Gao Yan-Tao ◽

Chen Fei ◽

Zhu Feng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Microcrystalline Silicon ◽

Silicon Thin Film

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Nanopatterned Silicon Substrate Use in Heterojunction Thin Film Solar Cells Made by Magnetron Sputtering

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2014/707543 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Shao-Ze Tseng ◽

Chang-Rong Lin ◽

Hung-Sen Wei ◽

Chia-Hua Chan ◽

Sheng-Hui Chen

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Magnetron Sputtering ◽

Silicon Substrate ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Self Assembled Monolayer ◽

P Type

This paper describes a method for fabricating silicon heterojunction thin film solar cells with an ITO/p-type a-Si : H/n-type c-Si structure by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering. A short-circuit current density and efficiency of 28.80 mA/cm2and 8.67% were achieved. Novel nanopatterned silicon wafers for use in cells are presented. Improved heterojunction cells are formed on a nanopatterned silicon substrate that is prepared with a self-assembled monolayer of SiO2nanospheres with a diameter of 550 nm used as an etching mask. The efficiency of the nanopattern silicon substrate heterojunction cells was 31.49% greater than that of heterojunction cells on a flat silicon wafer.

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Fabrication of an efficient electrodeposited Cu2ZnSnS4-based solar cells with more than 6% conversion efficiency using a sprayed Ga-doped ZnO window layer

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c4ra03857f ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (46) ◽

pp. 24351-24355 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Feng Jiang ◽

Shigeru Ikeda ◽

Takashi Harada ◽

Akiko Ide ◽

Akiko Mochihara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Window Layer ◽

Doped Zno ◽

First Time

Cost effective non-vacuum sprayed GZO layer was utilized in electrodeposited CZTS-based thin film solar cells for the first time. The thus-obtained solar device presented an appreciable conversion efficiency of 6.43%.

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Improved Metal Oxide Electrode for CIGS Solar Cells: The Application of an AgOX Wetting Layer

Nanoscale Research Letters ◽

10.1186/s11671-021-03506-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nils Neugebohrn ◽

Norbert Osterthun ◽

Maximilian Götz-Köhler ◽

Kai Gehrke ◽

Carsten Agert

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Metal Oxide ◽

Metal Layer ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Wetting Layer ◽

Transparent Conductive Oxides ◽

Effective Measure

AbstractOxide/metal/oxide (OMO) layer stacks are used to replace transparent conductive oxides as front contact of thin-film solar cells. These multilayer structures not only reduce the overall thickness of the contact, but can be used for colouring of the cells utilizing interference effects. However, sheet resistance and parasitic absorption, both of which depend heavily on the metal layer, should be further reduced to reach higher efficiencies in the solar cells. In this publication, AgOX wetting layers were applied to OMO electrodes to improve the performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells. We show that an AgOX wetting layer is an effective measure to increase transmission and conductivity of the multilayer electrode. With the presented approach, we were able to improve the short-circuit current density by 18% from 28.8 to 33.9 mA/cm2 with a metal (Ag) film thickness as low as 6 nm. Our results highlight that OMO electrodes can be an effective replacement for conventional transparent conductive oxides like aluminium-doped zinc oxide on thin-film solar cells.

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