skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Improving optical performance of concentrator cells by means of a deposited nanopattern layer

Abstract

Multijunction solar cells (MJSC) use anti-reflective coatings (ARC) to minimize Fresnel reflection losses for a family of light incidence angles. These coatings adapt the refractive index of the cell to that of the surrounding medium. Patterns with sizes in the range of the light wavelength can be used to further reduce reflections through diffraction. Transparent nanopatterns with a gradual profile, called moth-eye nanostructures, can adapt the refractive index of the optical interfaces (often with n∼1.5) used to encapsulate concentrator solar cells to that of the air (n{sub air}∼1). Here we show the effect of a nanometric moth-eye ARC with a round motif deposited on commercial MJSC that achieves short-circuit current (I{sub SC}) gains greater than 2% at normal incidence and even higher in the case of tilted illumination. In this work, MJSC with different moth-eye ARC are characterized under quantum efficiency (QE) as well as under concentrated illumination I-V in order to assess their potential. Simulations based on coupled wave analysis (RCWA) are used to fit the experimental results with successful results.

Authors:
; ; ;  [1];  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. CEA-LITEN, Laboratoire de Photovoltaïque à Concentration, INES, Le Bourget du Lac (France)
  2. CEA-LITEN, Laboratoire de Surfaces Nanostructurées, Grenoble (France)
  3. Laboratoire Hubert Curien UMR CNRS, Université de Lyon, St. Etienne (France)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22489009
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1679; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: CPV-11: 11. international conference on conventrator photovoltaictaic systems, Aix-les-Bains (France), 13-15 Apr 2015; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; 14 SOLAR ENERGY; CONCENTRATOR SOLAR CELLS; DIFFRACTION; ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY; GAIN; ILLUMINANCE; INCIDENCE ANGLE; LAYERS; NANOSTRUCTURES; PERFORMANCE; QUANTUM EFFICIENCY; REFLECTION; REFLECTIVE COATINGS; REFRACTIVE INDEX; VISIBLE RADIATION

Citation Formats

García-Linares, Pablo, Besson, Pierre, Weick, Clément, Baudrit, Mathieu, Dominguez, César, Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Dellea, Olivier, Kämpfe, Thomas, and Jourlin, Yves. Improving optical performance of concentrator cells by means of a deposited nanopattern layer. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4931515.
García-Linares, Pablo, Besson, Pierre, Weick, Clément, Baudrit, Mathieu, Dominguez, César, Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Dellea, Olivier, Kämpfe, Thomas, & Jourlin, Yves. Improving optical performance of concentrator cells by means of a deposited nanopattern layer. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4931515
García-Linares, Pablo, Besson, Pierre, Weick, Clément, Baudrit, Mathieu, Dominguez, César, Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Dellea, Olivier, Kämpfe, Thomas, and Jourlin, Yves. 2015. "Improving optical performance of concentrator cells by means of a deposited nanopattern layer". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4931515.
@article{osti_22489009,
title = {Improving optical performance of concentrator cells by means of a deposited nanopattern layer},
author = {García-Linares, Pablo and Besson, Pierre and Weick, Clément and Baudrit, Mathieu and Dominguez, César and Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid and Dellea, Olivier and Kämpfe, Thomas and Jourlin, Yves},
abstractNote = {Multijunction solar cells (MJSC) use anti-reflective coatings (ARC) to minimize Fresnel reflection losses for a family of light incidence angles. These coatings adapt the refractive index of the cell to that of the surrounding medium. Patterns with sizes in the range of the light wavelength can be used to further reduce reflections through diffraction. Transparent nanopatterns with a gradual profile, called moth-eye nanostructures, can adapt the refractive index of the optical interfaces (often with n∼1.5) used to encapsulate concentrator solar cells to that of the air (n{sub air}∼1). Here we show the effect of a nanometric moth-eye ARC with a round motif deposited on commercial MJSC that achieves short-circuit current (I{sub SC}) gains greater than 2% at normal incidence and even higher in the case of tilted illumination. In this work, MJSC with different moth-eye ARC are characterized under quantum efficiency (QE) as well as under concentrated illumination I-V in order to assess their potential. Simulations based on coupled wave analysis (RCWA) are used to fit the experimental results with successful results.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4931515},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22489009}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 1679,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}