Light-trapping structures are more demanding for optimal light absorption in thin film silicon solar cells. Accordingly, new design engineering of solar cells has been emphasized and found to be effective to achieve improved performance. This paper deals with a design of thin film silicon solar cells and explores the influence of bottom grating and combination of top and bottom (dual) grating a...

The cost-effectiveness of market-dominating silicon wafer solar cells plays a key role in determining the competiveness of solar energy with other exhaustible energy sources. Reducing the silicon wafer thickness at a minimized efficiency loss represents a mainstream trend in increasing the cost-effectiveness of wafer-based solar cells. In this paper we demonstrate that, using the advanced light...

For the bottleneck problem of the conversion efficiency in silicon-based solar cell, the Metallization Wrap– through (MWT) technology is one of the effective methods based on the analysis of factors affecting the solar cell conversion efficiency. The MWT technology is based on laser perforation and that the bus grid lines in the front surface of the solar cell are moved to the back surface. The...

The optics of axial silicon nanowire solar cells is investigated and compared to silicon thin-film solar cells with textured contact layers. The quantum efficiency and short circuit current density are calculated taking a device geometry into account, which can be fabricated by using standard semiconductor processing. The solar cells with textured absorber and textured contact layers provide a ...

We compare the efficiency of thin film photonic crystal solar cells consisting of conical pores and nanowires. Solving both Maxwell's equations and the semiconductor drift-diffusion in each geometry, we identify optimal junction and contact positions and study the influence of bulk and surface recombination losses on solar cell efficiency. We find that using only 1 lm of silicon, sculpted in th...

This paper reviews the latest results in application and development of infrared imaging methods for fast and spatially resolved silicon solar cell characterization. Infrared imaging methods comprise electroluminescence (EL) imaging, photoluminescence (PL) imaging, and lock-in thermography (LIT). We report on new insights into the nature of local series resistances and important observations on...

In order to simultaneously decrease the production costs of thin film silicon solar cells and obtain higher performances, the authors have studied the possibility to increase the light trapping effect within thin film silicon solar cells deposited on flexible plastic substrates. In this context, different nano-structure shapes useable for the back contacts of amorphous silicon solar cells on pl...

This study characterized the plasmonic scattering effects of indium nanoparticles (In NPs) on the front surface and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on the rear surface of a thin silicon solar cell according to external quantum efficiency (EQE) and photovoltaic current-voltage. The EQE response indicates that, at wavelengths of 300 to 800 nm, the ratio of the number of photo-carriers collected to ...

Vertically aligned radial-junction solar cell designs offer potential improvements over planar geometries, as carrier generation occurs close to the junction for all absorption depths, but most production methods still require a single crystal substrate. Here, we report on the fabrication of such solar cells from polycrystalline, low purity (99.98%) p-type silicon starting material, formed into...

Developing a better method for the metallization of silicon solar cells is integral part of realizing superior efficiency. Currently, contact realization using screen printing is the leading technology in the silicon based photovoltaic industry, as it is simple and fast. However, the problem with metallization of this kind is that it has a lower aspect ratio and higher contact resistance, which...