Improved stability of amorphous silicon solar cells with p-type nanocrystalline silicon carbide window layer

Deposition of boron-doped nanocrystalline silicon carbide thin films using H2-Ar mixed dilution for the application on thin film solar cells

“…It is probably that the absence of metal electrodes on ITO layers should be responsible for the large series resistance, as the Al grids deposited on ITO for the reported solar cells. Nevertheless, it is interesting that the situation is somewhat different when coming to Chang's work [15]. Authors announced an achievement at the Eff of 9.6% for the a-Si solar cell coated by p-nc-SiC:H window layer, their devices have lower J sc (<15 mA cm −2 ) whereas higher V oc (>0.8 V) in comparison with our best solar cell, though the reported p-nc-SiC:H layer has lower e.g.…”

“…Since it is possible for carriers to tunnel between Si nanocrystals, the conductivity can be much higher than that of B-doped a-SiC x by virtue of the increased tunneling possibility. According to the above description, it is expected to obtain better photovoltaic performance by applying B-doped nc-SiC x window layer in silicon based solar cells, and many groups have made afford on this field [13][14][15][16][17].…”

Simulations of Heterojunction and Tandem Solar Cells Based on 3C Silicon Carbide

“…This material, thanks to its crystalline structure, has the possibility of being grown on silicon. So, there have been some studies on this materials for example: Shunsuke Ogawa et al have studied a structure made of TCO/TiO 2 (40 nm)/n-mc-3C-SiC:H layer (25 nm)/intrinsic a-Si:H layer (150 nm)/p-mc-SiCx layer (20 nm)/Al with an efficiency of 4.6% [5], Ping-Kuan Chang et al [6] with a structure: Glass/SnO 2 /GZO/p-nc-SiC:H/ia-Si:H/na-Si: H/GZO/Ag whose efficiency is in the order of 8%; Y. Tawada et al [7] have developed a p-i-n cell (glass /SnO 2 /p a-SiC:H/i-n a-Si:H/Al) with an efficiency of 7.55%. It should also be noted that 3C-SiC/Si heterojunctions have already been studied in the domain of power diodes [8], as well as window layer or as emitter for photovoltaic cells in several configurations [9].…”