Investigation of textured back reflectors for microcrystalline silicon based solar cells
Microcrystalline silicon ({micro}c-Si:H) solar cells require an effective light trapping in the near infrared (NIR) to enhance the long wavelength spectral response. For this purpose the authors investigated back reflectors based on texture-etched ZnO/Ag stacks prepared on glass substrates by magnetron sputtering. With decreasing sputter pressure the resulting surface texture of the glass/Ag/ZnO substrates after etching exhibits a larger feature size and root mean square roughness. The increase in feature size corresponds to an increase of diffuse reflectivity. Applied in microcrystalline solar cells prepared by VHF plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the reflectors showing the largest feature size (prepared at the lowest possible sputter pressure) yielded the highest long wavelength spectral response. The {micro}c-Si n-i-p cells prepared on the latter back reflector exhibited efficiencies of 6.9% (short circuit current density j{sub sc} = 18.8 mA/cm{sup 2}) and 7.5% (j{sub sc} = 25 mA/cm{sup 2}) for an i-layer thickness of 1 {micro}m and 3.5 {micro}m, respectively.
- Research Organization:
- Forschungszentrum Juelich (DE)
- OSTI ID:
- 20107968
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1999 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA (US), 04/05/1999--04/09/1999; Other Information: PBD: 1999; Related Information: In: Amorphous and heterogeneous silicon thin films: Fundamentals to devices -- 1999. Materials Research Society symposium proceedings: Volume 557, by Branz, H.M.; Collins, R.W.; Okamoto, Hiroaki; Guha, S.; Schropp, R. [eds.], 908 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
High Efficiency, Inexpensive Thin Film III-V Photovoltaics using Single-Crystalline-Like, Flexible Substrates
Reduced Cu(InGa)Se2 Thickness in Solar Cells Using a Superstrate Configuration