Radial junction silicon solar cells with micro-pillar array and planar electrode interface for improved photon management and carrier extraction.

3 January 2019

Abstract

We demonstrate radial p-n junction silicon solar cells with micro-pillar array with higher short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage than comparable planar silicon solar cells.

Micro-pillar array, fabricated by RIE, acts as an effective anti-reflection coating for visible light with less than 6% reflection. Compared to devices with planar surface, devices with micro-pillar array show a 27% enhancement in short circuit current.

The radial p-n junction of the micro-pillars also improves extraction probability of the photogenerated carriers, which further increases the short circuit current. Typically, micro-pillar solar cells suffer from high recombination losses at the Si/metal interface, resulting in poor VOC.

Our devices prevent these recombination losses by planarizing the Si/metal interface, leading to an open circuit voltage of 622 mV, the highest ever reported for micro-pillar solar cells.

This planarized contact also reduces the series resistance associated with radial junctions, leading to series resistance of ≤0.50 Ω-cm2 and fill factors up to 76.7%.

Citation

Singh, V.K., Nagaraju, J. and Avasthi, S., 2018. Radial junction silicon solar cells with micro-pillar array and planar electrode interface for improved photon management and carrier extraction. Current Applied Physics.

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Categories: Solar & Photovoltaics, Material & Chemical

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