Structure and Numerical Simulation of Field Effect Solar Cell

A p-i-n a-Si:H solar cell structure which can eliminate detrimental effect of TCO and a heavily doped window layer has been investigated in detail using a two-dimensional device simulator. The cell is designed to use an inversion layer induced by field effect instead of the heavily doped window layer while maintaining p-i-n junction locally to keep the built-in potential high and stable. Device simulation has revealed that the conversion efficiency of p-in a-Si:H solar cells can be improved by 30% with the use of this cell structure. This improvement is mainly due to the increase in the photo-currents, which can be explained by the increased quantum efficiency for light with short wavelength.