fossil fuel reserves is causing major changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and associated climate change. Clearly, this is an untenable situation and alternative renewable energy sources must be found. The concept of harvesting the sun’s energy to create electrical power is an obvious answer and the principles of ‘photovoltaics’ (PV) (the direct conversion of ‘photons to volts’) have been demo...

In this study, the environmental impacts of monolithic silicon heterojunction organometallic perovskite tandem cells (SHJ-PSC) and single junction organometallic perovskite solar cells (PSC) are compared with the impacts of crystalline silicon based solar cells using a prospective life cycle assessment with a time horizon of 2025. This approach provides a result range depending on key parameter...

Dielectric gratings are a promising method of achieving light trapping for thin crystalline silicon solar cells. In this paper, we systematically examine the potential performance of thin silicon solar cells with either silicon (Si) or titanium dioxide (TiO2) gratings using numerical simulations. The square pyramid structure with silicon nitride coating provides the best light trapping among al...

For wafer based silicon solar cells, the combination of amorphous/crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) heterojunction emitters (SHJ) [1] and back-contacted back-junction solar cell concepts (BCBJ) [2] offer a very high efficiency potential of around 24%. Stangl et al. proposed a relatively simple and therefore attractive cell concept comprising a two level metallization isolated by an insulation l...

Silicon-rich-nitride (SRN) films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) by changing the silane and ammonia flow rates. These films were thermally annealed for precipitation of silicon nanocrystals. Measurements of refractive indices and FTIR absorption spectra of these films indicated increase in the silicon content. Thermally annealed SRN films exhibited photolumi...

Photovoltaic (PV) modules provide a source of renewable electricity by harnessing solar energy. Currently, crystalline silicon dominates the PV market with an approximate market share of 90% and record solar cell efficiencies greater than 20%. However, the PV market must decrease the cost to the consumer to maintain growth and meet global electricity demands. Increasing the solar-to-electricity...

Surface plasmons, which exist along the interface of a metal and a dielectric, have been proposed as an efficient alternative method for light trapping in solar cells during the past ten years. With unique properties such as superior light scattering, optical trapping, guide mode coupling, near field concentration, and hot-electron generation, metallic nanoparticles or nanostructures can be tai...

Excimer laser textured thin film silicon and poly 2-methoxy-52 -ethylhexyloxy -1,4-phenylenevinylene bilayer solar cells are fabricated and characterized with air mass 1.5 simulated solar irradiation. The polymer layer increases the light harvesting capability of the cell and increases the shunt resistance while increasing open circuit voltage. The highest efficiency of 0.87% for the thin film ...

Silicon nanowire-based solar cells on metal foil are described. The key benefits of such devices are discussed, followed by optical reflectance, current-voltage, and external quantum efficiency data for a cell design employing a thin amorphous silicon layer deposited on the nanowire array to form the p-n junction. A promising current density of 1.6 mA /cm2 for 1.8 cm2 cells was obtained, and a ...