Opto-electrical study of spectrally enhanced thin film solar devices

Shima Hajimirza, John R. Howell

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

We report on a full range optical and electrical study of a light trapping mechanism for efficiency enhancement in thin film (< 200nm) amorphous silicon. Solar absorption can be improved inside thin silicon films via surface texturing, plasmonic excitations and thin anti-reflecting coating. These effects can be studied via numerical solutions of electromagnetic Maxwell's equations (e.g. by FDTD), and consequently can be used for optimizing the design of light trapping in a computational framework. A more comprehensive study is however needed to determine the real world solar-to-electrical energy conversion rate of a PV cell. Effects such as surface and bulk career recombination as well as contact shadowing can notably hinder career collection and thus reduce the net efficiency of the photovoltaic semiconductor. These interactions are modeled by the drift-diffusion equations. In this paper, we use a joint opto-electrical study for designing a silicon-based thin film cell with maximized efficiency rate. The cell structure is composed of periodic plasmonic surface gratings and ITO coating. The parameters of the optimization include the gratings width, height and pitch, as well as the thickness of coating layers. Our results show that the energy conversion of thin film amorphous silicon can be enhanced significantly with appropriate choice of light trapping, and taking into consideration the electrical affects.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTechnical Proceedings of the 2013 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Expo, NSTI-Nanotech 2013
Pages623-626
Number of pages4
StatePublished - 2013
EventNanotechnology 2013: Electronics, Devices, Fabrication, MEMS, Fluidics and Computational - 2013 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Expo, NSTI-Nanotech 2013 - Washington, DC, United States
Duration: 12 May 201316 May 2013

Publication series

NameTechnical Proceedings of the 2013 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Expo, NSTI-Nanotech 2013
Volume2

Conference

ConferenceNanotechnology 2013: Electronics, Devices, Fabrication, MEMS, Fluidics and Computational - 2013 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Expo, NSTI-Nanotech 2013
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington, DC
Period12/05/1316/05/13

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