基于P型晶体硅异质结太阳电池的结构设计与性能分析

针对两种a-Si(n)/c-Si(p)异质结太阳电池结构,应用AFORS_HET软件,分析氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)和氢化微晶硅(μc-Si:H)两种材料作为背面场时的特性参数对a-Si(n)/c-Si(p)异质结太阳电池性能的影响。结果表明:P型氢化微晶硅(μc-Si:H(p))为背面场时电池性能得到提高,μc-Si:H(p)的背面场特性是关键因素。最后,优化设计出以a-Si:H为窗口层、μc-Si:H为背面场的a-Si(n)/c-Si(p)异质结太阳电池TCO/a-Si:H(n)/a-Si:H(i)/c-Si(p)/a-Si:H(i)/μc-Si:H(p)/TCO,并获得20%的转换效率。     

nc-Si/c-Si异质结太阳电池优化设计分析

分析影响p+(nc-Si)/i(a-Si)/n(c-Si)异质结太阳电池性能的主要因素,获得纳米硅薄膜杂质浓度、本征层厚度以及背场对电池性能的影响规律。结果表明,当纳米硅薄膜中掺杂浓度增大时,该层大部分区域电场强度变大,短路电流和开路电压增大,有利于提高电池转换效率。优化的掺杂浓度应大于1×1018cm-3。当i层厚度大于30 nm时,电池转换效率η和电池填充因子FF急剧下降,优化的最佳厚度为10 nm。研究加入非晶硅背场提高电池效率的新途径,当引入厚10 nm的a-Si∶H(n+)背面场后,电池转换效率由21.677%提高到24.163%。     

硅基异质结太阳电池钝化层的研究

研究硅基异质结太阳电池的表面钝化层对电池性能的影响,主要工作包括:1)对比非晶硅本征层a-Si:H(i)与非晶硅氧本征层a-Si Ox:H(i)对c-Si界面的钝化效果的作用,及其对电池性能的影响;2)研究不同a-Si:H(i)厚度对电池性能的影响;3)不同沉积速率a-Si:H(i)对c-Si界面的钝化效果和电池性能的影响,并对不同沉积速率的a-Si:H(i)膜层做了H原子含量等分析。通过该征钝化层工艺的优化,最终在156 mm×156 mm厚度200μm的n型硅片上获得效率为20.90%的硅基异质结太阳电池,和在100μm厚度的硅片上得到转化效率为20.44%的可弯曲电池。     

基于等效介质理论的光伏电池亚波长光栅减反结构设计

根据等效介质理论(EMT),利用薄膜特性矩阵方法提出了等效介质膜模型,用以研究亚波长光栅减反特性。运用遗传算法分析入射光偏振态和光栅结构参数对亚波长光栅反射率的影响,获得了特定波段下复周期亚波长光栅较低的平均反射率。此外,以TCO/a-Si:H(n)/a-Si:H(i)/c-Si:H(p)/Ag光伏电池为例,将其表面透明导电层(TCO)设计为复周期亚波长光栅结构,利用AFORS_HET软件模拟分析光伏电池的光谱响应,结果表明,复周期亚波长光栅的减反特性可以显著提高光伏电池的量子效率。     

表面处理与p层电导率对HIT电池性能的影响

考虑到氢氟酸溶液对晶体硅表面具有去氧化和氢离子钝化表面悬键的双重作用,通过优化清洗工艺使得a-Si∶H(i)/c-Si/a-Si∶H(i)异质结构有效少子寿命达到2 ms。研究不同沉积温度对p型非晶硅薄膜电导率的影响,结合后退火发现中温(150℃)生长高温后退火的方式优于直接高温(200℃)沉积,电导率和钝化效果都有明显改善。采用优化后的p层,a-Si∶H(p~+)/a-Si∶H(i)/c-Si/a-Si∶H(i)/a-Si∶H(n~+)(inip)结构少子寿命可达3.70 ms。制备的HIT电池具有优良的性能:开路电压V_(oc)=700 mV,潜在的填充因子pFF=82%,短路电流密度Jsc=32.10 mA/m~2,填充因子FF=72.35%,转换效率η=16.26%,对比Suns-V_(oc)I-V曲线和标准条件下测试的I-V曲线计算得串联电阻,分析FF与pFF差异的原因。     

N型单晶硅衬底上非晶硅/单晶硅异质结太阳电池计算机模拟

采用德国HMI研发的AFORS-HET软件模拟了N型衬底非晶硅,单晶硅异质结太阳电池的特性,结果表明随着发射层厚度的增加,短路电流下降,电池的短波响应变差.在非晶硅,单晶硅异质结界面处加入不同的界面态密度(Dit).发现当Dit1012cm-2·eV-1时,电池的开路电压和填充因子均大幅减小,导致电池效率降低.当在非晶硅,单晶硅异质结界面处加入本征非晶缓冲层后,电池性能明显改善,但是缓冲层厚度应控制在30nm以内.模拟的a-Si/i-a-Si:H/c-Si/i-a-Si:H/n a-Si双面异质结太阳电池的最高转换效率达到28.47%.     

非晶硅对MoO_x/c-Si异质结太阳电池器件的影响

室温下电子束蒸发沉积氧化钼(MoO_x)薄膜呈非晶态,光学带隙约为3.6 eV,与单晶硅表面构成MoO_x/c-Si异质结并具有钝化作用,但明显低于i∶α-Si∶H钝化。ITO/MoO_x/i∶α-Si∶H/n∶c-Si/i∶α-Si∶H/n+∶α-Si∶H/Al太阳电池结构,既有晶硅前后表面钝化,又增加了背电场层,适当的MoO_x厚度可获得电池的最高效率(15.5%);若取消晶硅表面i∶a-Si∶H钝化,与HIT(heterojunction with intrinsic thinlayer)电池类似,硅的前表面复合增大,电池效率降为11.5%;若取消背表面i∶a-Si∶H钝化及背电场材料n~+∶a-Si∶H,电池效率急剧下降到8.3%,这表明背表面钝化及背电场,对MoO_x/c-Si异质结太阳电池特性具有更为重要的作用,对高效器件制备具有一定指导意义。     

氢等离子体处理钝化层对高效晶硅异质结太阳电池性能的影响

研究不同时间氢等离子体处理（HPT）氢化非晶硅a-Si:H（i）钝化层对高效晶硅异质结太阳电池（效率>23％）性能的影响。发现适当时间的HPT可改善钝化效果提升电池性能,但过长时间的HPT可导致薄膜钝化效果变差,有效少数载流子寿命降低。分析认为HPT时间过长,H原子进入到a-Si:H（i）薄膜层中,导致薄膜内部SiH₂增多,微结构因子（R）增大,薄膜质量变差。并且,适当时间的HPT改善太阳电池性能的幅度有限,而过长时间的HPT导致电池性能下降却很明显。因此,针对高效率的晶硅异质结太阳电池,应对钝化层沉积之后的HPT工艺进行谨慎控制。     

氢注入在硅异质结太阳电池a-Si:H窗口层中的研究

基于热丝化学气相沉积(Cat-CVD)系统开展氢注入对超薄(<10 nm)氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)薄膜特性改善的研究,发现适当的氢注入可提高薄膜内的氢含量、降低其微结构因子并展宽其光学带隙.将该方法用于处理硅异质结(SHJ)太阳电池入光侧的本征非晶硅(i-a-Si:H)及N型非晶硅(n-a-Si:H)薄膜钝化层,可显...     

基于BZO衬底的高效非晶硅及非晶/微晶硅叠层太阳电池

通过研究氢稀释对硼掺杂的硅氧材料特性的影响,制备出具有高纵向电导率(1.1×10~(-5)S/cm)、低横向电导率4.2×10~(-5)S/cm和宽带隙(2.52 eV)的p型纳米硅氧(p-nc-SiO_x:H)材料,将其作为非晶硅电池(a-Si:H)的窗口层,使短波响应得到明显提升。但由于宽带隙p-nc-SiO_x:H层的引入,使p/i界面能带失配,恶化了电池性能。因此研究p/i界面缓冲层带隙对电池性能的影响,发现提高缓冲层带隙,使电池的内建电场得到明显提升,从而提高电池的转换效率。将获得的具有高开路电压的a-Si:H电池作为顶电池应用到非晶/微晶硅叠层电池中,得到效率达12.99%的高效非晶/微晶硅叠层太阳电池。     

Design optimization of bifacial HIT solar cells on p-type silicon substrates by simulation

Heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells fabricated on p-type silicon substrates usually demonstrate inferior performance than those formed on n-type substrates. The influence of various structure parameters on the performance of the c-Si(p)-based bifacial HIT solar cell, i.e., the TCO/a-Si:H(n)/a-Si:H(i)/c-Si(p)/a-Si:H(i)/a-Si:H(p⁺)/TCO solar cell, was investigated in detail by computer simulation using the AFORS-HET software. The work function of the transparent conductive oxide was found to be a key factor to affect the solar cell performance. Detailed influence mechanisms were analysed. Accordingly, the design optimization of the bifacial HIT solar cells on c-Si(p) substrates was provided.     

Flexible amorphous and microcrystalline silicon tandem solar modules in the temporary superstrate concept

Encapsulated and series-connected amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) based thin film silicon solar modules were developed in the superstrate configuration using an aluminum foil as temporary substrate during processing and a commodity polymer as permanent substrate in the finished module. For the development of μc-Si:H single junction modules, aspects regarding TCO conductivity, TCO reduction, deposition uniformity, substrate temperature stability and surface morphology were addressed. It was established that on sharp TCO morphologies where single junction μc-Si:H solar cells fail, tandem structures consisting of an a-Si:H top cell and a μc-Si:H bottom cell can still show a good performance. Initial aperture area efficiencies of 8.2%, 3.9% and 9.4% were obtained for fully encapsulated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) single junction, microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) single junction and a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem junction modules, respectively.     

TCO and light trapping in silicon thin film solar cells

For thin film silicon solar cells and modules incorporating amorphous (a-Si:H) or microcrystalline (μc-Si:H) silicon as absorber materials, light trapping, i.e. increasing the path length of incoming light, plays a decisive role for device performance. This paper discusses ways to realize efficient light trapping schemes by using textured transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) as light scattering, highly conductive and transparent front contact in silicon p–i–n (superstrate) solar cells. Focus is on the concept of applying aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films, which are prepared by magnetron sputtering and subsequently textured by a wet-chemical etching step. The influence of electrical, optical and light scattering properties of the ZnO:Al front contact and the role of the back reflector are studied in experimentally prepared a-Si:H and μc-Si:H solar cells. Furthermore, a model is presented which allows to analyze optical losses in the individual layers of a solar cell structure. The model is applied to develop a roadmap for achieving a stable cell efficiency up to 15% in an amorphous/microcrystalline tandem cell. To realize this, necessary prerequisites are the incorporation of an efficient intermediate reflector between a-Si:H top and μc-Si:H bottom cell, the use of a front TCO with very low absorbance and ideal light scattering properties and a low-loss highly reflective back contact. Finally, the mid-frequency reactive sputtering technique is presented as a promising and potentially cost-effective way to up-scale the ZnO front contact preparation to industrial size substrate areas.     

Amorphous silicon/p-type crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

We have investigated the photovoltaic (PV) characteristics of both glow discharge deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) on crystalline silicon (c-Si) in a n⁺ a-Si:H/undoped a-Si:H/p c-Si type structure, and DC magnetron sputtered a-Si:H in a n-type a-Si:H/p c-Si type solar cell structure. It was found that the PV properties of the solar cells were influenced very strongly by the a-Si/c-Si interface. Properties of strongly interface limited devices were found to be independent of a-Si thickness and c-Si resistivity. A hydrofluoric acid passivation prior to RF glow discharge deposition of a-Si:H increases the short circuit current density from 2.57 to 25.00 mA/cm² under 1 sun conditions.DC magnetron sputtering of a-Si:H in a Ar/H₂ ambient was found to be a controlled way of depositing n type a-Si:H layers on c-Si for solar cells and also a tool to study the PV response with a-Si/c-Si interface variations. 300 Å a-Si sputtered onto 1–10 ω cm p-type c-Si resulted in 10.6% efficient solar cells, without an A/R coating, with an open circuit voltage of 0.55 V and a short circuit current density of 30 mA/cm² over a 0.3 cm² area. High frequency capacitance-voltage measurements indicate good junction characteristics with zero bias depletion width in c-Si of 0.65 μm. The properties of the devices have been investigated over a wide range of variables like substrate resistivity, a-Si thickness, and sputtering power. The processing has focused on identifying and studying the conditions that result in an improved a-Si/c-Si interface that leads to better PV properties.     

Development of high efficiency p-i-n amorphous silicon solar cells with the p-μc-Si:H/p-a-SiC:H double window layer

A structure is developed to help improve the TCO/p contact and efficiency of the solar cell. A p-i-n amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cell with high-conversion efficiency is presented via use of a double p-type window layer composed of microcrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon carbide. The best efficiency is obtained for a glass/textured TCO/p-μc-Si:H/p-a-SiC:H/buffer/i-a-Si:H/n-μc-Si:H/GZO/Ag structure. Using a SnO₂/GZO bi-layer and a p-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (p-μc-Si:H) layer between the TCO/p-a-SiC:H interface improves the photovoltaic performance due to reduction of the surface potential barrier. Layer thickness, B₂H₆/SiH₄ ratio and hydrogen dilution ratio of the p-μc-Si:H layer are studied experimentally. It is clearly shown that the double window layer can improve solar cell efficiency. An initial conversion efficiency of 10.63% is achieved for the a-Si:H solar cell.     

Amorphous silicon solar cell computer model incorporating the effects of TCO/a-Si:C:H junction

A simulation model of amorphous silicon solar cells ASPIN has been extended to incorporate the material properties of the TCO/a-Si:C:H interface region, which plays an important role in p-i-n a-Si:H solar cells and can strongly influence their photoelectrical characteristics. The analysis includes the impact of band bending at the front a-Si:C:H surface due to the difference between the work functions of TCO and a-Si:C:H and the influence of an increased surface density of states at the TCO/a-Si:C:H interface on internal and external characteristics.     

Development of thin film amorphous silicon oxide/microcrystalline silicon double-junction solar cells and their temperature dependence

We have developed thin film silicon double-junction solar cells by using micromorph structure. Wide bandgap hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO:H) film was used as an absorber layer of top cell in order to obtain solar cells with high open circuit voltage (V_oc), which are attractive for the use in high temperature environment. All p, i and n layers were deposited on transparent conductive oxide (TCO) coated glass substrate by a 60 MHz-very-high-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) technique. The p-i-n-p-i-n double-junction solar cells were fabricated by varying the CO₂ and H₂ flow rate of i top layer in order to obtain the wide bandgap with good quality material, which deposited near the phase boundary between a-SiO:H and hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon oxide (μc-SiO:H), where the high V_oc can be expected. The typical a-SiO:H/μc-Si:H solar cell showed the highest initial cell efficiency of 10.5%. The temperature coefficient (TC) of solar cells indicated that the values of TC for conversion efficiency (η) of the double-junction solar cells were inversely proportional to the initial V_oc, which corresponds to the bandgap of the top cells. The TC for η of typical a-SiO:H/μc-Si:H was −0.32%/ °C, lower than the value of conventional a-Si:H/μc-Si:H solar cell. Both the a-SiO:H/μc-Si:H solar cell and the conventional solar cell showed the same light induced degradation ratio of about 20%. We concluded that the solar cells using wide bandgap a-SiO:H film in the top cells are promising for the use in high temperature regions.     

Evolution of microstructure and phase in amorphous, protocrystalline, and microcrystalline silicon studied by real time spectroscopic ellipsometry

Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry has been applied to develop deposition phase diagrams that can guide the fabrication of hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) thin films at low temperatures (<300°C) for highest performance electronic devices such as solar cells. The simplest phase diagrams incorporate a single transition from the amorphous growth regime to the mixed-phase (amorphous+microcrystalline) growth regime versus accumulated film thickness [the a→(a+μc) transition]. These phase diagrams have shown that optimization of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) intrinsic layers by RF plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at low rates is achieved using the maximum possible flow ratio of H₂ to SiH₄ that can be sustained while avoiding the a→(a+μc) transition. More recent studies have suggested that a similar strategy is appropriate for optimization of p-type Si:H thin films. The simple phase diagrams can be extended to include in addition the thickness at which a roughening transition is detected in the amorphous film growth regime. It is proposed that optimization of a-Si:H in higher rate RF PECVD processes further requires the maximum possible thickness onset for this roughening transition.     

Highly and quickly stabilized p–i–n/p–i–n-type protocrystalline silicon multilayer tandem solar cells

We have developed p–i–n/p–i–n-type protocrystalline silicon (pc-Si:H) multilayer tandem solar cells. The purpose of this work is to make a thin film silicon solar cell with low degradation by combining the virtues of a pc-Si:H multilayer and tandem structure. The usefulness of the pc-Si:H multilayer as a low degradation top and bottom cell was confirmed when we achieved a low degradation ratio of 10.0%. Notably, this tandem cell stabilized rapidly, within 1 h. Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) grains embedded in a pc-Si:H multilayer were detected with the aid of a planer transmission electron microscope. The isolated nc-Si grains may suppress the photocreation of dangling bonds due to non-radiative recombination in an a-Si:H matrix. Because of these embedded nc-Si grains, the pc-Si:H multilayer has a fast and high light-induced metastability.     

Modeling of light-induced degradation of amorphous silicon solar cells

Light-induced degradation of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells has been modeled using computer simulations. In the computer model, the creation of light-induced defects as a function of position in the solar cell was calculated using the recombination profile. In this way, a new defect profile in the solar cell was obtained and the performance was calculated again. The results of computer simulations were compared to experimental results obtained on a-Si:H solar cell with different intrinsic layer thickness. These experimental solar cells were degraded under both open- and short-circuit conditions, because the recombination profile in the solar cells could then be altered significantly. A reasonable match was obtained between the experimental and simulation results if only the mid-gap defect density was increased. To our knowledge, it is the first time that light-induced degradation of the performance and the quantum efficiency of a thickness series of a-Si:H solar cells has been modeled at once using computer simulations.