In this study, we have fabricated and characterized the silicon [Si] wire solar cells with conformal ZnO nanorod antireflection coating [ARC] grown on a Al-doped ZnO [AZO] seed layer. Vertically aligned Si wire arrays were fabricated by electrochemical etching and, the p-n junction was prepared by spin-on dopant diffusion method. Hydrothermal growth of the ZnO nanorods was followed by AZO film ...

Crystalline silicon thin film (c-Si TF) solar cells with an active layer thickness of a few micrometers may provide a viable pathway for further sustainable development of photovoltaic technology, because of its potentials in cost reduction and high efficiency. However, the performance of such cells is largely constrained by the deteriorated light absorption of the ultrathin photoactive materia...

In this paper, we report the electrical simulation results of a proposed GaInP nanowire (NW)/Si two-junction solar cell. The NW physical dimensions are determined for optimized solar energy absorption and current matching between each subcell. Two key factors (minority carrier lifetime, surface recombination velocity) affecting power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the solar cell are highlighted...

Carrier-selective contact with low minority carrier recombination and efficient majority carrier transport is mandatory to eliminate metal-induced recombination for higher energy conversion efficiency for silicon (Si) solar cells. In the present study, the carrier-selective contact consists of an ultra-thin tunnel oxide and a phosphorus-doped polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) thin film formed by pla...

Titanium oxide (TiO2) films and TiO2/SiNx stacks have potential in surface passivation, anti-reflection coatings and carrier-selective contact layers for crystalline Si solar cells. A Si wafer, deposited with 8-nm-thick TiO2 film by atomic layer deposition, has a surface recombination velocity as low as 14.93 cm/s at the injection level of 1.0 × 1015 cm−3. However, the performance of silicon su...

The performance enhancement of polycrystalline Si solar cells by using an optimized discrete multilayer anti-reflection (AR) coating with broadband and omni-directional characteristics is presented. Discrete multilayer AR coatings are optimized by a genetic algorithm, and experimentally demonstrated by refractive-index tunable SiO₂ nano-helix arrays and co-sputtered (SiO₂)x(TiO₂)₁₋x thin film l...

A new method for measuring component cell current-voltage (I-V) characteristics in a tandem-junction two-terminal solar cell is described. The measurements are performed with (a-Si/a-SiGe) tandem structure solar cell using two separate light beams of different wavelengths. The I-V characteristics of the compone nt cells are obtained and open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current (Isc) an...

The Light Beam Induced Current (LBIC) measurement technique is used to perform localized characterization on solar cells using a light beam as a probe. This technique allows the determination of the local photo-response of a solar cell which enables characterization of the spatial distribution of defects and electrical parameters. By scanning the beam probe across a solar cell while measuring t...

today, due to qualitative growth and scientific advances, energy, especially electricity is increasingly needed by human society. one of the almost endless and pure energy which have been paid attention over the years is the solar energy. solar cells directly convert solar energy into electrical energy and are one of the main blocks of photovoltaic systems. significant improvement has been made...