Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration

doi:10.1002/pssa.201700480

Title: Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration

Article Details
Other Related Research

Al is a commonly used material for rear side metallization in commercial silicon (Si) wafer solar cells. In this study, through-the-silicon spectroscopic ellipsometry is used in a test sample to measure Al+Si interface optical properties like those in Si wafer solar cells. Two different spectroscopic ellipsometers are used for measurement of Al+Si interface optical properties over the 1128-2500 nm wavelength range. For validation, the measured interface optical properties are used in a ray tracing simulation over the 300-2500 nm wavelength range for an encapsulated Si solar cell having random pyramidal texture. The ray tracing model matches well with the measured total reflectance at normal incidence of a commercially available Si module. The Al+Si optical properties presented here enable quantitative assessment of major irradiance/current flux losses arising from reflection and parasitic absorption in encapsulated Si solar cells.

Authors:

; Silverman, Timothy J. ^[2] ; Deceglie, Michael G. ^[2] ; Podraza, Nikolas J. ^[1]

Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: 2017-10-18

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5J00-68655
Journal ID: ISSN 1862-6300

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Physica Status Solidi. A, Applications and Materials Science

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 214; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1862-6300

Publisher:: Wiley

Research Org:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; aluminum; interfaces; optical properties; silicon; solar cells; spectroscopic ellipsometry

OSTI Identifier:: 1418122

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1400003


                    Subedi, Indra, Silverman, Timothy J., Deceglie, Michael G., and Podraza, Nikolas J.. Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration.  United States: N. p.,  
        Web.  doi:10.1002/pssa.201700480.

Copy to clipboard


                    Subedi, Indra, Silverman, Timothy J., Deceglie, Michael G., & Podraza, Nikolas J.. Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration.  United States.  doi:10.1002/pssa.201700480.

Copy to clipboard


                    Subedi, Indra, Silverman, Timothy J., Deceglie, Michael G., and Podraza, Nikolas J.. 2017.  
        "Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration".  United States.  
        doi:10.1002/pssa.201700480.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1418122.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1418122,

  title        = {Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration},

  author       = {Subedi, Indra and Silverman, Timothy J. and Deceglie, Michael G. and Podraza, Nikolas J.},

  abstractNote = {Al is a commonly used material for rear side metallization in commercial silicon (Si) wafer solar cells. In this study, through-the-silicon spectroscopic ellipsometry is used in a test sample to measure Al+Si interface optical properties like those in Si wafer solar cells. Two different spectroscopic ellipsometers are used for measurement of Al+Si interface optical properties over the 1128-2500 nm wavelength range. For validation, the measured interface optical properties are used in a ray tracing simulation over the 300-2500 nm wavelength range for an encapsulated Si solar cell having random pyramidal texture. The ray tracing model matches well with the measured total reflectance at normal incidence of a commercially available Si module. The Al+Si optical properties presented here enable quantitative assessment of major irradiance/current flux losses arising from reflection and parasitic absorption in encapsulated Si solar cells.},

  doi          = {10.1002/pssa.201700480},

  journal      = {Physica Status Solidi. A, Applications and Materials Science},

  number       = 12,

  volume       = 214,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2017},

  month        = {10}

}

Copy to clipboard

Similar Records

Similar records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections:

Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration

Journal Article Subedi, Indra ; Silverman, Timothy J. ; Deceglie, Michael G. ; ... October 2017 - Physica Status Solidi. A, Applications and Materials Science

Full Text Available
Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiO _x contacts for Si solar cells using Al ₂O ₃ studied with deuterium

Journal Article Schnabel, Manuel ; van de Loo, Bas W. H. ; Nemeth, William ; ... May 2018 - Applied Physics Letters

Here, the interplay between hydrogenation and passivation of poly-Si/SiO _x contacts to n-type Si wafers is studied using atomic layer deposited Al ₂O ₃ and anneals in forming gas and nitrogen. The poly-Si/SiO _x stacks are prepared by thermal oxidation followed by thermal crystallization of a-Si:H films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Implied open-circuit voltages as high as 710 mV are achieved for p-type poly-Si/SiO _x contacts to n-type Si after hydrogenation. Correlating minority carrier lifetime data and secondary ion mass spectrometry profiles reveals that the main benefit of Al ₂O ₃ is derived from its role as amore »« less
Cited by 1
Amorphous/crystalline silicon interface passivation: Ambient-temperature dependence and implications for solar cell performance

Journal Article Seif, Johannes P. ; Krishnamani, Gopal ; Demaurex, Benedicte ; ... March 2015 - IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells feature amorphous silicon passivation films, which enable very high voltages. We report how such passivation increases with operating temperature for amorphous silicon stacks involving doped layers and decreases for intrinsic-layer-only passivation. We discuss the implications of this phenomenon on the solar cell's temperature coefficient, which represents an important figure-of-merit for the energy yield of devices deployed in the field. We show evidence that both open-circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) are affected by these variations in passivation and quantify these temperature-mediated effects, compared with those expected from standard diode equations. We confirm that devicesmore »« less
Cited by 13Full Text Available
Critical Role of Interface and Crystallinity on the Performance and Photostability of Perovskite Solar Cell on Nickel Oxide

Journal Article Nie, Wanyi ; Tsai, Hsinhan ; Blancon, Jean -Christophe ; ... December 2017 - Advanced Materials

Hybrid perovskites are on a trajectory toward realizing the most efficient single-junction, solution-processed photovoltaic devices. However, a critical issue is the limited understanding of the correlation between the degree of crystallinity and the emergent perovskite/hole (or electron) transport layer on device performance and photostability. Here, the controlled growth of hybrid perovskites on nickel oxide (NiO) is shown, resulting in the formation of thin films with enhanced crystallinity with characteristic peak width and splitting reminiscent of the tetragonal phase in single crystals. Photophysical and interface sensitive measurements reveal a reduced trap density at the perovskite/NiO interface in comparison with perovskites grownmore »« less
Cited by 11
Zn–Se–Cd–S Interlayer Formation at the CdS/Cu ₂ ZnSnSe ₄ Thin-Film Solar Cell Interface

Journal Article Bär, Marcus ; Repins, Ingrid ; Weinhardt, Lothar ; ... June 2017 - ACS Energy Letters

The chemical structure of the CdS/Cu ₂ZnSnSe ₄ (CZTSe) interface was studied by a combination of electron and X-ray spectroscopies with varying surface sensitivity. We find the CdS chemical bath deposition causes a 'redistribution' of elements in the proximity of the CdS/CZTSe interface. In detail, our data suggest that Zn and Se from the Zn-terminated CZTSe absorber and Cd and S from the buffer layer form a Zn-Se-Cd-S interlayer. Here, we find direct indications for the presence of Cd-S, Cd-Se, and Cd-Se-Zn bonds at the buffer/absorber interface. Thus, we propose the formation of a mixed Cd(S,Se)-(Cd,Zn)Se interlayer. We also suggestmore »« less
Cited by 2Full Text Available

Access journal articles and accepted manuscripts resulting from DOE research funding

Title: Al+Si Interface Optical Properties Obtained in the Si Solar Cell Configuration

Access journal articles and accepted manuscripts
resulting from DOE research funding