This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent AbstractA good texturing pattern for solar cells needs to combine low Reflectance over a large wavelength range and low surface recombination to maximise the output. Nanowire and pyramid patterns offer low Reflectance in the longer and shorter wavelength regions respectively. This paper introduces an exciting new "hut" like texturing pattern with excellent performance, improving that of nanowires and pyramids; over the long and short wavelength ranges respectively. Furthermore, we analyse the effect of different structural parameters such as height, diameter, Surface Coverage (SC) and ϑ, on the solar cell performance.2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Arrays of vertical silicon micro pillar radial junction solar cells have been fabricated by diffusion of direct application spin on dopant and from the vapour phase through proximity rapid thermal diffusion. The micro pillars were fabricated by optical lithography and deep reactive ion etching. Permanent repository linkThe micro pillar arrays show superior anti-reflective properties over the measured spectrum and good correlation to finite difference time domain modelling of identical geometry arrays.Junctions formed by a conventional spin on doping process of phosphorus containing dopant solution produced Suns-V oc values in the region of 0.3 V. This value is likely due to difficulties encountered in achieving an even distribution of dopant over the entire surface of the arrays.An alternative method utilising spin on dopant but employing an intermediate vapour phase diffusion step produced promising results with Suns-V oc values reaching 0.5 V following a post diffusion drive in step.

No abstract

The implementation of a texturing pattern on the surface of a solar cell is well known for reducing reflection, thus increasing the absorption of sunlight by the solar cell. Nanowires (NWs) that are large in their height have been widely used for this purpose. Through rigorous numerical simulations, this work explores the benefits of short but index-matched NWs and how these designs are also affected by surface recombination. Additionally, this work further optimized power conversion efficiency (PCE) by placing two or three NWs of different heights and diameters on top of each other to mimic the performance of two-NW and three-NW ARC designs with PCEs of 16.8% and 17.55%, respectively, when a radial pn junction is considered. These are the highest reported so far for such a thin silicon solar cell. Furthermore, we also show how these designs were impacted by surface recombination velocity and compare these findings to simple NWs of different heights and diameters.

This paper introduces an exciting new hut-like texturing pattern that shows lower Reflectance than pyramids and nanowires in the shorter and longer wavelengths respectively.