Triple-junction amorphous/microcrystalline silicon solar cells: Towards industrially viable thin film solar technology

Multone, X.; Fesquet, L.; Borrello, D.; Romang, D.; Choong, G.; Vallat-Sauvain, E.; Charrière, Mathieu; Billet, Adrian; Boucher, J.-F.; Steinhauser, J.; Orhan, J.-B.; Monnard, R.; Cardoso, J.; Charitat, G.; Dehbozorgi, B.; Guillot, Nicolas; Monteduro, G.; Marmelo, M.; Semenzi, R.; Benagli, S.; Meier, J.

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2015.04.038

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Alternatively to this high-efficiency but expensive technology, multijunction solar cells have also been demonstrated with polycrystalline thin-film solar cells, such as thin-film silicon, ,− organic semiconductor, , or perovskite-based solar cells. However, among those options, only perovskite solar cells exhibit both a high efficiency and the potential for low-cost production.…”

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confidence: 99%

Perovskite/Perovskite/Silicon Monolithic Triple-Junction Solar Cells with a Fully Textured Design

Werner

Sahli

et al. 2018

ACS Energy Lett.

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High efficiency triple-junction solar cells are currently made of III–V semiconductors using expensive deposition methods. Perovskite/perovskite/silicon monolithic triple-junction solar cells could be a lower-cost alternative as no epitaxial growth is required. We demonstrate here that such devices can be realized using textured crystalline silicon bottom cells for optimal light management. By changing the perovskite absorbers composition and recombination junctions to make them compatible with the subsequent fabrication steps, triple-junction devices with open-circuit voltage up to 2.69 V are realized. To illustrate the applicability of the technology, we show how the band gaps and thicknesses of the top and middle cells can be modified to approach current-matching conditions. The limitations of these devices are discussed, as well as strategies to make them competitive with III–V triple-junction cells. The concepts presented here are a first step toward high-efficiency, high-voltage, and low-cost triple-junction photovoltaics.

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confidence: 99%

Perovskite/Perovskite/Silicon Monolithic Triple-Junction Solar Cells with a Fully Textured Design

Werner

Sahli

et al. 2018

ACS Energy Lett.

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“…Microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) has demonstrated to be an important material for the development and fabrication of large area semiconductor devices [1][2][3]. A widely used method to deposit these films is plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at low temperatures (200 • C) by employing a combination of SiH 4 and H 2 gas mixtures [4,5]. Currently, thin film solar cells and thin film transistors (TFTs) incorporate µc-Si:H films into their fabrication processes [6][7][8][9][10].…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparative Study on the Quality of Microcrystalline and Epitaxial Silicon Films Produced by PECVD Using Identical SiF4 Based Process Conditions

et al. 2021

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Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) and epitaxial silicon (epi-Si) films have been produced from SiF4, H2 and Ar mixtures by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 200 °C. Here, both films were produced using identical deposition conditions, to determine if the conditions for producing µc-Si with the largest crystalline fraction (XC), will also result in epi-Si films that encompass the best quality and largest crystalline silicon (c-Si) fraction. Both characteristics are of importance for the development of thin film transistors (TFTs), thin film solar cells and novel 3D devices since epi-Si films can be grown or etched in a selective manner. Therefore, we have distinguished that the H2/SiF4 ratio affects the XC of µc-Si, the c-Si fraction in epi-Si films, and the structure of the epi-Si/c-Si interface. Raman and UV-Vis ellipsometry were used to evaluate the crystalline volume fraction (Xc) and composition of the deposited layers, while the structure of the films were inspected by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Notably, the conditions for producing µc-Si with the largest XC are different in comparison to the fabrication conditions of epi-Si films with the best quality and largest c-Si fraction.

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“…The efficiency improvement by additional subcells has been shown up to the triple-junction configuration. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] In organic photovoltaics, the absorber materials have rather narrow absorption spectra. …”

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Too Many Junctions? A Case Study of Multijunction Thin‐Film Silicon Solar Cells

Tong

Isabella

Zeman

2017

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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different energy bandgaps, multijunction solar cells can reduce the thermalization and nonabsorption losses, meaning less spectral mismatch and a better spectral utilization. The theoretical efficiency limit of the solar cell comprising infinite number of component subcells is 68.2% without concentration and 86.8% with concentration. [3] In practice, the III-V photovoltaic technology represents a very successful demonstration of both strategies. [4,5] Within this category, the benefit of multijunction concept is apparent as the record efficiency of concentrator photovoltaic cells is 29.3% for the single-junction, and grows to 34.2%, 44.4%, and 46.0% for the monolithic two-terminal double-, triple-, and quadruple-junction cells, respectively. [6][7][8][9] Multijunction solar cells can be made with two or more external electrical contacts (terminals). The components in a monolithic two-terminal device are considered to be in series connection. Therefore, the output current of a two-terminal device is constrained by the component which supplies the least photocurrent. Despite the limitation, two-terminal multijunction cells are much more feasible to design and manufacture than the ones with more terminals, thus more practical for applications. This type of two-terminal devices is the subject of this paper. For simplicity, we refer two-terminal multijunction solar cells to as multijunction solar cells, without further specification.While the multijunction III-V solar cells mark the highest achieved power conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells to date, the multijunction concept has been explored and developed in many other photovoltaic technologies as well. Besides the reduction of losses originating from spectral mismatch, the multijunction concept offers some additional benefits to the thin-film photovoltaics. The effective absorption is split into a few separate layers in different subcells, meaning that each layer can be made thinner for the same total absorption. Such thickness reduction improves the electrical performance when the carrier transportation in the material is a limiting factor. Moreover, the division of photocurrent implies less resistive losses over the electrical interconnections. The thin-film silicon solar cell has a long history of developing multijunction solutions to make use of these advantages. The efficiency improvement by additional subcells has been shown up to the triple-junction configuration. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] In organic photovoltaics, the absorber materials have rather narrow absorption spectra.

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Triple-junction amorphous/microcrystalline silicon solar cells: Towards industrially viable thin film solar technology

Cited by 15 publications

References 22 publications

Perovskite/Perovskite/Silicon Monolithic Triple-Junction Solar Cells with a Fully Textured Design

Perovskite/Perovskite/Silicon Monolithic Triple-Junction Solar Cells with a Fully Textured Design

Comparative Study on the Quality of Microcrystalline and Epitaxial Silicon Films Produced by PECVD Using Identical SiF4 Based Process Conditions

Too Many Junctions? A Case Study of Multijunction Thin‐Film Silicon Solar Cells

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