Optimization of moth‐eye antireflection schemes for silicon solar cells

Abstract

Nanostructured moth-eye antireflection schemes for silicon solar cells are simulated using rigorous coupled wave analysis and compared to traditional thin film coatings. The design of the moth-eye arrays is optimized for application to a laboratory cell (air-silicon interface) and an encapsulated cell (EVA-silicon interface), and the optimization accounts for the solar spectrum incident on the silicon interface in both cells, and the spectral response of both types of cell. The optimized moth-eye designs are predicted to outperform an optimized double layer thin film coating by approximately 2% for the laboratory cell and approximately 3% for the encapsulated cell. The predicted performance of the silicon moth-eye under encapsulation is particularly remarkable as it exhibits losses of only 0Á6% compared to an ideal AR surface.

Recent biomedical applications of bio-sourced materials

“…Analogous to the compound eye of the mosquito, the moth eye is also composed of ordered micro-/nanostructures [10,13,14]. A very low amount of light has the reflection coefficient of the moth eye, allowing the moth to see in the dark (Fig.…”

Light manipulation principles in biological photonic systems

“…Brilliant whiteness in the thin elytral scales of Cyphochilus beetles, achieved at very low material cost, elicits interest in the development of optimised paper coating technology [11,119]. Biological antireflection protocols, at work in some of the transparent wings and ommatidial eye surfaces of Lepidoptera, form potential templates for improving photovoltaic efficiencies [120,121]. Advanced fabrication techniques have enabled the manufacture of stretchable iridescent fibres inspired by the design and colour appearance arising from multilayer structures found in certain tropical plant seeds [122].…”

The role of photonics in energy

“…In recent years, the application of nanostructured surfaces (e.g., micro-or nanopillars or nanowires) that can be used to minimize reflection across the full solar spectrum and also up to high angles has been explored to address this problem. 130,131 These structures typically produce a graded effective refractive index that leads to an ultralow, broadband reflection that is also omnidirectional; hence, these structures have been categorized as being omnidirectional antireflective (ODAR) layers. 132 A related concept has been to develop ODAR layers that can also act as downconverting layers, hence better optimizing the spectrum that the semiconductor absorbs to avoid thermalization losses when high-energy photons are absorbed.…”