Optical properties and performance of pyramidal texture silicon heterojunction solar cells: <scp>K</scp>ey role of vertex angles

Mrázková, Zuzana; Sobkowicz, Igor Paul; Foldyna, Martin; Postava, Kamil; Florea, Ileana; Pištora, Jaromı́r; Cabarrocas, Pere Roca i

doi:10.1002/pip.2994

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The vertex angle of micropillars was around 71° with an aspect ratio of 1.3 (height 700 nm) (Figure S1, Supporting Information). The micropillars formed is close to the ideal pillars angle required for maximum light trapping …”

Section: Sample Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Design and Fabrication of a Multifunctional Flexible Absorber (Flexorb) in the UV–Vis–NIR Wavelength Range

Ghai

Baranwal

Singh

et al. 2019

Adv Materials Technologies

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breaking strain. [18] 4) The creasing in thin foils during fabrication and operations pose another challenge. [19] 5) The rigid and metallic foil-based absorbers will be difficult to mount on surfaces with complex geometry and curved contours. 6) The integrity of these absorbers with variety of underlying surfaces made of metals and polymers have not been established yet. To overcome some of these issues, flexible optical absorbers are developed using nanocomposites or thin metal foils as base substrate. [9,20] More recently, Zeranska-Chudek et al. has reported the flexible absorber based on grapheme/ polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposite with an average absorption of 95% in 400-1600 nm wavelength range. [21] The lower absorption capacity and narrow operating range is again a critical issue with this absorber. [22,23] Unavailability of an absorber which can meet all these functional requirements naturally leads to a fundamental question that how we can fabricate a near perfect flexible absorber which can overcome these issues. Here we report the fabrication of a novel flexible absorber (flexorb) with an absorbing capacity of >99% in the whole UV-vis-NIR broadband region using a simple and economical process. Apart from absorbing capacity, the mechanical integrity of flexible absorber with different types of underlying surfaces is an important parameter in order to qualify them for a variety of applications. A unified study which deals with the absorbing capacity and mechanical integrity of flexible absorbers has not been carried out to the best of author's knowledge and has been thoroughly performed in the current work. The use of PDMS as base matrix material ensures the flexibility as well as integrity of multifunctional absorber with different types of surfaces. Texturing and addition of ZnO, Fe, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as reinforcing fillers increases the photonic path length through multiple scattering of incident light and hence augments the absorbing capacity of PDMS. Additionally, the presence of CNTs helps to achieve impedance matching and thus significantly reduces the reflection of incident beam at absorber-surrounding interface. All these factors combined in a synergistic way and results in a near perfect absorption of incident light in the broader wavelength range of 300-2000 nm. Moreover, the flexorb shows multifunctional behavior in the sense that it can avoid environmental assisted degradation due to its observed hydrophobic and self-cleaning characteristics. In addition the improved Synthesis of a near perfect absorber is required for many technologically challenging areas. Most of the existing super absorbers are rigid and usually exploit the light in the visible range only leaving a significant part of available energy in the solar spectrum unutilized. Here the synthesis of a multifunctional flexible absorber (flexorb) with an ultrahigh absorbing capacity of >99% in the whole UV-vis-NIR region is reported. Flexorb is fabricated by texturing the polydimethylsiloxane matrix reinforced by Z...

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Section: Sample Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Design and Fabrication of a Multifunctional Flexible Absorber (Flexorb) in the UV–Vis–NIR Wavelength Range

Ghai

Baranwal

Singh

et al. 2019

Adv Materials Technologies

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“…In general, surface texturing in Si technologies is particularly critical for enhancing light trapping efficiency because of the high refractive index and relatively low absorption coefficient of Si. [51,130] However, the typical pyramid size of 3-15 µm is not compatible with solution-processed perovskite solar cells that usually have an optimized film thickness of 0.5-1 µm, and thus, polished front wafers are predominantly used in hybrid tandems. [130,131] Chen et al stressed the importance of the front pyramid geometry of a Si bottom subcell for reducing front-surface reflectance between the ITO and Si (Figure 5h).…”

Section: Recombination Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[51,130] However, the typical pyramid size of 3-15 µm is not compatible with solution-processed perovskite solar cells that usually have an optimized film thickness of 0.5-1 µm, and thus, polished front wafers are predominantly used in hybrid tandems. [130,131] Chen et al stressed the importance of the front pyramid geometry of a Si bottom subcell for reducing front-surface reflectance between the ITO and Si (Figure 5h). [132] These authors further showed that the compromise between pyramid size and reflectance for the effective perovskite coating can effectively reduce internal reflectance at the intermediate surface (Figure 5i), leading to enhanced light trapping in the Si subcell compared to that in a planarized Si subcell.…”

Section: Recombination Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 51,130 ] However, the typical pyramid size of 3–15 µm is not compatible with solution‐processed perovskite solar cells that usually have an optimized film thickness of 0.5–1 µm, and thus, polished front wafers are predominantly used in hybrid tandems. [ 130,131 ] Chen et al. stressed the importance of the front pyramid geometry of a Si bottom subcell for reducing front‐surface reflectance between the ITO and Si (Figure 5h).…”

Section: Interconnection Layer In Hybrid Tandemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent Progress in Interconnection Layer for Hybrid Photovoltaic Tandems

Park

Lee

et al. 2020

Advanced Materials

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larger acceptance owing to their decreasing cost. However, Si cells feature power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) close to the maximum practically achievable value (29.4% for crystalline Si solar cells), which makes it difficult to further reduce the levelized cost of electricity by decreasing the power output-to-cost ratio. [7,8] The most straightforward solution to this problem is to hybridize multiple semiconductor layers in a tandem architecture for absorbing the different wavelengths of the solar spectrum using different solar cell technologies. [9-12] As proven by a theoretical tandem cell efficiency of ≈46%, [13] Si solar cells with a bandgap of 1.1 eV have been regarded as potential bottom subcells of hybrid tandems, additionally offering the benefits of mass production suitability owing to well-organized production lines and global supply chains. [13,14] However, Sibased hybrid tandem solar cells configured with cost-effective solar cell technologies, including dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and organic photovoltaics (OPV), have far lower efficiencies than single-junction Si solar cells, predominantly because of the insufficient compatibility of the employed materials with Si solar cells. [15-19] Metal halide perovskite-based solar cells have attracted significant attention in recent years because of their potential to be processed at low cost, high efficiencies, excellent optoelectronic properties, and tunable bandgap. They have therefore considered as prospective components of hybrid tandems. [20] Previous studies on the fundamental working principle of the hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H)/a-Si:H tandem and related validation by empirical investigations show the feasibility of combining different solar cell technologies, [6,21-23] as exemplified by the pairing of high-bandgap perovskite subcells with low-bandgap Si subcells or the assembly of dual perovskitebased tandem solar cells exploiting perovskite bandgap tunability. [14,24-26] To date, considerable effort has been directed at the development of wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells (PSCs) (1.65-1.8 eV) for hybrid tandem applications, [27,28] and remarkable progress (i.e., a high open-circuit voltage (V oc) of 1.31 V with a wide bandgap of 1.72 eV (>90% of the Shockley-Queisser limit)) has been achieved. [29] Currently, researchers aim to realize perovskite-based hybrid tandem solar cells with PCEs of 30%. Nonetheless, considerable electrical property and fabrication process adjustments are required to integrate singlejunction perovskites into the hybrid tandem architecture. The introduction of an intermediate layer to bridge different solar Hybrid tandem solar cells offer the benefits of low cost and full solar spectrum utilization. Among the hybrid tandem structures explored to date, the most popular ones have four (simple stacking design) or two (terminal/tunneling layer addition design) terminal electrodes. Although the latter design is more cost-effective than the former, its widespread application is hindered by the difficulty of preparing...

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AMMS

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Crystalline Silicon (C-Si) is the industrially dominant component in most solar cell manufacturing due to its non-toxicity at high level material control, natural abundance, high carrier mobility, and industry compatibility [1][2][3]. Similar to any photovoltaic technology, increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost are of prime interest. Reducing the cost involves using less material by developing thinner wafers and enhancing the efficiency and cost of the manufacturing processes. It also includes reducing the cost of the solar system including the antireflective layers and the tracking system. However, the PV industry based on C-Si is limited due to high cost fabrication for large scale applications and high reflection losses which limit their efficiency and their use [4][5][6][7]. Possible solutions are using AR coatings to suppress reflection and high aspect ratio nanostructures to increase absorption by increasing the optical path of photon [2,8,9]. However, most common AR coatings are limited in use due to their chemical, thermal and mechanical instability with the thin film and their validity only for certain wavelengths and certain incident angles [2,9]. The limitation of the traditional AR coatings for certain wavelength and angle range such as using SiNx layer as AR coating on silicon based solar cells reduced the reflection from 40% to 6% only with normal incidence, is very common problem [9]. Therefore, using AR coatings for wide wavelengths and angles range is inefficient, requires high cost for multilayer use and for a mechanical tracking system to follow the solar radiation at different angles [2,9]. In the last few years, Black Silicon (B-Si) paved the way not only for highly efficient Si solar cells but also for a wide range of applications

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Optical properties and performance of pyramidal texture silicon heterojunction solar cells: Key role of vertex angles

Cited by 28 publications

References 15 publications

Design and Fabrication of a Multifunctional Flexible Absorber (Flexorb) in the UV–Vis–NIR Wavelength Range

Design and Fabrication of a Multifunctional Flexible Absorber (Flexorb) in the UV–Vis–NIR Wavelength Range

Recent Progress in Interconnection Layer for Hybrid Photovoltaic Tandems

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