The carrier lifetime is the most important electronic property of semiconductor materials for solar cells. In this paper we discuss traditional and novel methods for its experimental determination. Among the latter, the Quasi-steady-state photoconductance is particularly powerful since it permits measuring the injection level dependence of the lifetime. The analysis and interpretation of this d...

This work demonstrates the high potential of Al2O3 passivated black silicon in high efficiency Interdigitated Back Contacted (IBC) solar cells by reducing surface reflectance without jeopardizing surface passivation. Very low reflectance values, below 0.7% in the 300-1000 nm wavelength range, together with striking surface recombination velocities values of 17 and 5 cm/s on pand n-type crystall...

In silicon heterojunction solar cells, the passivation of the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces and fabrication of emitter and back surface field are all performed by intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon thin layers, usually deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). By using in-situ diagnostics during PECVD, it is found that the passivation quality of such layers directl...

Mixed-phase hydrogenated silicon oxide (SiOx:H) is applied to thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) solar cells serving as both p-doped and n-doped layers. The bandgap of p-SiOx:H is adjusted to achieve a highly-transparent window layer while also providing a strong electric field. Bandgap grading of n-SiOx:H is designed to obtain a smooth transition of the energy band e...

In this study, we made the heterojunction solar cells on Si substrate by fabricating a nanocrystalline Si/SiO2 superlattice emitter structure. Amorphous silicon and silicon dioxide superlattice were prepared by rf Si sputtering and plasma oxidation, respectively. The deposited amorphous silicon was crystallized at high temperature. Microstructure studies by TEM show that amorphous silicon was c...

Selective emitter solar cells were fabricated with a reduced number of technological steps. Laser doping is often discussed in relation to silicon photovoltaic cell efficiency enhancement. In this paper, we present results of the development of a selective emitter structure for multicrystalline silicon solar cells suitable for industrial mass production. A pulsed laser is used to obtain highly ...

Nanowires (NWs) are recently used in several sensor or actuator devices to improve their ordered characteristics. Silicon nanowire (Si NW) is one of the most attractive one-dimensional nanostructures semiconductors because of its unique electrical and optical properties. In this paper, silicon nanowire (Si NW), is synthesized and characterized for application in photovoltaic device. Si NWs are ...

The energy conversion efficiency of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has reached a value comparable to commercially available silicon cells. main challenges for their commercialization are instability and toxicity.

Photovoltaic phenomenon was first observed by E. Becquerel (Becquerel) in 1839. He observed the electric current-lit silver electrode, immersed in the electrolyte. In 1894, taking advantage of the observed photoconductivity phenomenon in amorphous selenium the semiconductor solar cell was developed. The very first silicon p-n junction solar cell was made in 1954, energy conversion efficiency of...