Improvement of N-Type Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell Performance Using Novel Texturization Method.

Texturization of diamond cut crystalline silicon wafers undergoes a great difficulty due to deep saw marks on all over the surface of the wafer which makes hindrance to manufacture high efficiency solar cell. Textural result is not satisfactory after conventional texturization by potassium hydroxide (KOH)-isopropyl alcohol (IPA) followed by the saw damage removal by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous solution. The non-uniform texture surface has been observed with noticeable spots on the wafer surface. Surface texturization of diamond cut silicon wafer has been improved after introducing a new method in this paper. Small amount of surfactant along with KOH-IPA solution and curtailing saw damage removal step created better textural result than conventional texturization method. Optimize etching solution exhibited excellent anisotropic etching which eventually paved to improve solar cell characteristics than conventional surface texturing. About 15% efficiency is found for conventional texturization in diamond cut wafers while above 19% efficiency was found for our proposed method. Batch process compatibility has been studied using stainless steel container instead of commercially available borosil glass bath.

Improving the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cell through regulating their temperature using thin films of polyvinyl alcohol

Rising temperatures significantly affect the PV module, decreasing its voltage and lowering output power. Furthermore, temperature rises have been linked to several PV module failures or degradation modes. The purpose of this study analyzes polyvinyl alcohol PVA on crystalline silicon solar cells as a thermal insulation thin film. PVA thin films were prepared by dip-coating technique with a thickness of 1.15μm. The films exhibit suitable solar cell temperature controlling though it's an effect on masking the ultraviolet wavelength. The maximum temperature variation on the coating solar cell's surface was 4.5 °C as a comparison to a bare solar cell with irradiate exposure time 1800sec, and maximum efficiency obtained 18.99% in which Voc = 0.566 v and Isc = 330.2 mA when compared with bare solar cell 15.07% with benefit efficiency +3.92%. The concentrations of the polyvinyl alcohol influences on thin films and their effect on solar cell parameters are discussed.