Thin film solar cells on honeycomb-structured substrates for photovoltaic building blocks

Honeycomb-structured solar cell is proposed for photovoltaic building block applications. Honeycomb-like substrates were prepared either by a conventional semiconductor processing or by a low cost wet-chemical method, and amorphous Si thin film solar cells were fabricated on these substrates. We have demonstrated one of the essential requirements for building block application, which is the low sensitivity of the light incidence angles on the power conversion efficiency; and we have identified the critical processing issues through the experimental study using various thin film deposition methods. This honeycomb-structured solar cell is a promising candidate for the future photovoltaic building block applications enabling the inherent high strength-to-weight ratio and higher efficiency at an oblique light incidence.     

Process damage free thin-film GaAs solar cells by epitaxial liftoff with GaInP window layer

We report on process damage free thin-film GaAs cells detached from the GaAs substrates. GaAs cells grown by gas-source MBE were thinned by the epitaxial liftoff (ELO) technique. Photoluminescence spectroscopy showed a peak splitting in the band emission, indicating that a strain was induced in the thin-film cell fixed on the quartz glass substrate. The strain, however, was found not to affect the quality of the thin-film cells, based on the fact that the peak intensity was almost twice that before ELO. The thin-film GaAs cells showed no evidence of degradation in diode characteristics and spectral responses. The keys to avoiding damage on the active region of the solar cell during the thinning process are the introducing a GaInP window layer and improving the thin film process including metallization on thin film cells. These results demonstrates that the thinning and transfer processes dol-not affect the quality of the active region of the cells.     

Epitaxial lift-off process for GaAs solar cell on Si substrate

This research has established the process to transplant GaAs solar cells from GaAs substrate to Si substrate without degrading the conversion efficiency. The conversion efficiency of GaAs solar cell bonded to Si substrate using epitaxial lift-off process is almost the same as that grown on GaAs substrate and is superior to that grown on Si substrate by heteroepitaxy.     

Enhanced efficiency of thin film GaAs solar cells with plasmonic metal nanoparticles

In the present work, a thin film solar cell structure consisting of thin GaAs layer, metallic nanoparticle array and aluminum back reflector is proposed and studied to calculate optical absorption and current density using finite difference time domain (FDTD) numerical simulation method. Simulation results show that in comparison to other metallic nanoparticles, aluminum nanoparticles have strong plasmonic scattering effect at optimized period of 100nm and radius 40nm to improve the efficiency of thin film GaAs solar cells through enhancement of current density integrated over solar spectrum by 31% compared to bare thin film GaAs solar cells.     

Determination of photo-active region in organic thin film solar cells with an organic heterojunction

The photo-active region in the solar cells consisting of Cu-phthalocyanine (CuPc) and perylene-derivative (PV) layers was determined by using exciton blocking layers (EBLs) inserted in these layers. The photocurrent density was low when the EBL was placed near the CuPc/PV interface. With the increase of the distance between the EBL and the CuPc/PV interface, the photocurrent increased. However, when the distance reached a certain value, it leveled off owing to the limited diffusion length of excitons. From the analysis of the relationship between the position of EBL and the photocurrent density, the photo-active regions in the CuPc and PV layers were estimated to be 8 and 12 nm thick from the interface, respectively.     

Thin film silicon solar cells for space applications: Study of proton irradiation and thermal annealing effects on the characteristics of solar cells and individual layers

The paper reports on the effects of a proton irradiation campaign on a series of thin-film silicon solar cells (single- and double-junction). The effect of subsequent thermal annealing on solar cells degraded by proton irradiation is investigated. A low-temperature annealing behaviour can be observed (at temperatures around 100 to 160°C) for microcrystalline silicon solar cells. To further explore this effect, a second proton irradiation campaign has been carried out, but this time on microcrystalline silicon layers. The effect of proton irradiation and subsequent thermal annealing on the optical and electronic properties of microcrystalline silicon is, thus, thoroughly investigated.     

Omnidirectional light absorption in thin film silicon solar cell with dual anti-reflection coatings

A theoretical model for an all-in-one thin film silicon solar cell (TFSSC) design with the anti-reflection (AR) coatings, the transparent electrodes, the silicon and the back reflective coatings all deposited on one piece of glass is proposed and the optical performance for the design is numerically simulated. The calculated average reflectance over the wavelength range of 0.4–1.0 μm and incident angles from 0° to 75° for the optimized dual-AR coatings as a whole is 3.67% – ranking among the lowest values for current AR coatings on silicon solar cells. Furthermore, the spectrum-averaged absorptance (SAA) in the 5-μm-thick cell in the 0.3–1.2 μm wavelength range decreases only by 2.58% when the incident angle varies from 0° to 75°, clearly showing the omnidirectional characteristics of the dual-AR coatings. With reasonable assumption of the internal quantum efficiency (near unity), the 5-μm cell produces a spectrum averaged external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 81.4% at 75° angle of incidence – 6.7% larger than the experiment result of the best planar bulk cell. Under equal sunshine conditions, TFSSCs generally give higher output voltages than their bulk counterpart if equal light absorption is assumed, so the 5-μm cell has the potential to reach the highest experimental conversion efficiency of the best planar bulk cell. By using a special mathematical technique, we are able to prove the angle-dependent absorption curves in the longer wavelength region tend to converge to a small neighborhood of the upper limit irrespective of significant differences between the transmission profiles. This indicates the AR requirement in the longer wavelength region can be significantly relaxed.     

Control of LPCVD ZnO growth modes for improved light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells

By controlling the deposition parameters of low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) grown ZnO transparent conductive oxide (TCO), we show that it is possible to achieve a switch of crystallographic orientations and to obtain novel surface nanotexture. The new layers are (0 0 0 2) oriented and exhibit light scattering at larger angles than state-of-the-art TCO used in thin film silicon solar cells. This property translates into a strong enhancement of the top amorphous cell current in micromorph tandem devices.     

Strained and strain-balanced quantum well devices for high-efficiency tandem solar cells

The state of GaAs/InGaAs quantum well solar cell research is reviewed. The effect of strain upon the GaAs/InGaAs cells is discussed and the limits to a strained GaAs/InGaAs cell established. The strain-balance approach is suggested as a means of overcoming the limits inherent to the strained approach and the principle is demonstrated in two differing device configurations. The strain-balance devices show enhanced efficiencies over their strained counterparts and in one case, comparable efficiency to a good GaAs control cell. The application of these cells to tandem structures is discussed, indicating the potential for a substantial efficiency enhancement.     

Catalytic hydrogenation for improvement of GaAs/Ge solar cell efficiency

Hydrogen passivation on MOCVD grown p-GaAs epilayers on Ge substrate have been studied by plasma and catalytic hydrogenation and the results were compared. The conversion efficiency of the GaAs/Ge solar cells was found to increase by 10% after catalytic hydrogenation at AM1.5. This increase in efficiency is probably due to passivation of surface dangling bonds.     

Can we improve the record efficiency of CdS/CdTe solar cells?

Polycrystalline thin film CdTe continues to be a leading material for the development of cost effective and reliable photovoltaic systems. The two key properties of this material are its near ideal band gap for photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 1.45 eV, and its high optical absorption coefficient. Thin film CdTe solar cells are typically hetero-junctions with CdS being the n-type partner, or window layer. Efficiencies as high as 16.5% have been achieved.In this paper we make a physical analysis of the typical CdS/CdTe superstrate solar cell, and we show that present record efficiencies are very close to the practical efficiency limit for a CdS/CdTe hetero-junction cell. We show that a current estimate for the maximum efficiency of hetero-junction CdS/CdTe solar cells is around 17.5%, in contrast to old theoretical predictions, which calculate about 30% efficiencies for ideal homo-junction CdTe solar cells. This analysis explains why the record efficiency for this kind of cells has been stable for the last 10 years, going up by less than 1% from 15.8% to only 16.5%.     

Thin film solar cells of CdS/PbS chemically deposited by an ammonia-free process

A new type of solar cell with structure glass/ITO/CdS/PbS/conductive graphite was constructed and studied. Both window (CdS) and absorption (PbS) layers were deposited by means of the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The maximum temperature employed during the solar cell processing was 70 °C and it did not include any post-treatment. In case of the CdS window layer, complexing agents alternative to ammonia were employed in the CBD process and their effects on the CdS films properties were studied. The solar cells are photosensitive in a large spectral range (all visible and near infrared regions); the cell with the area of 0.16 cm² without any special treatment has shown the values of open-circuit voltage V_oc of 290 mV and short circuit current J_sc of 14 mA/cm² with the efficiency η=1.63% (fill factor FF is 0.36) under illumination intensity of 900 W/m². It was found that the CBD-made PbS layer has a certain degree of porosity, which favorably affects its applicability in solar cell construction. The possible ways of device optimization, and in particular, the effect of the PbS grain size on its performance are discussed.     

Photocarrier generation in organic thin-film solar cells with an organic heterojunction

Photocurrent–voltage characteristics for organic solar cells with a heterojunction formed between copper phthalocyanine and a perylene derivative (or C₆₀) were studied. The photocurrent was observed under both reverse and forward biases. From the analysis of the photocurrent action spectra, the origin of the reverse photocurrent was attributed to the excitons formed in both the organic layers, whereas that of the forward photocurrent was attributed to the excitons formed in the perylene derivative (or C₆₀) layer. The photocurrent density under reverse bias increased at higher temperatures, suggesting that the charge recombination possibility was lowered at higher temperatures. On the basis of the time responses of the photocurrents observed after pulsed photoirradiation, the charge separation and transport processes are discussed.     

Spray pyrolysis of barrier layers for flexible thin film solar cells on steel

Thin film chalcopyrite solar cells grown on light-weight, flexible substrates are an appealing product. An insulating barrier layer is a requisite for flexible steel substrates to protect the chalcopyrite absorber layer from in-diffusion of iron and also to isolate the solar module, electrically, from the metal substrate. Spray pyrolysis is presented here as a means to deposit an aluminium oxide barrier layer. Optimised spray deposition conditions are investigated and subsequent solar cell results are presented. Resistivity measurements in conjunction with thermography allow assessment of the barrier layer’s insulating properties and occurrence of pin-holes in the layer. Resulting Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ cells, with a barrier layer, reach an efficiency of 14.4%.     

Experimental study of variations of the solar spectrum of relevance to thin film solar cells

The influence of variations in the incident solar spectrum on solar cells is often neglected. This paper investigates the magnitude of this variation and its potential influence on the performance of thin film solar cells in a maritime climate. The investigation centres on the analysis of a large number of measurements carried out in Loughborough, UK, at 10 min intervals over a period of 30 months. The magnitude of the spectral variation is presented both on a daily and a seasonal basis. Of the different thin film materials studied, amorphous silicon is shown to be the most susceptible to changes in the spectral distribution, with the “useful fraction” of the light varying in the range +6% to −9% of the annual average, with the maximum occurring in summer time.     

Computational modelling of the reflectivity of AlGaAs/GaAs and SiGe/Si quantum well solar cells

In this paper the modelling of the reflectivity of two quantum well solar cells (QWSC) are theoretically developed and computationally analysed. The new reflectivity model is based on the Modified Single Effective Oscillator model combined with Fresnel's equation. The model takes into consideration the effects of the design parameters including concentration levels, structural properties of the device (well length, etc.), operating temperature and electric field effects. The results generated are for a bare AlGaAs/GaAs cell and the same cell with a ZnS antireflection coating (ARC). Further investigations include a bare SiGe/Si cell and the same cell with a Ta₂O₅ ARC. The results generated are accurate and match with experimental data for similar cells. The analysis is performed for AM 1.5 spectrum. The model is intended to be an aid to QWSC designers.     

A highly efficient and stable CdTe/CdS thin film solar cell

In this paper we describe the fabrication and characteristics of highly efficient and stable CdTe/CdS thin film solar cells. Our cells are prepared in three subsequent phases. Firstly, we deposit via sputtering, without solution of continuity a layer of CdS on top of the front contact made up of a double layer of ITO/SnO₂ deposited on a soda lime glass substrate. The second phase consists in the treatment of the CdS layer, which is the key factor for the fabrication of a good heterojunction, with CdCl₂ and in the subsequent deposition of the CdTe layer via close space sublimation technique. Finally, the back contact is fabricated via sputtering making use of the Sb₂Te₃ compound which guarantees the cell stability. Under global AM1.5 conditions the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and fill factor of our best cell, fabricated without antireflecting coating and normalized to the area of 1 cm², were V_oc=858 mV, J_sc=23 mA/cm² and ff=74%, respectively, corresponding to a total area conversion efficiency of η=14.6%.     

Surface plasmon enhanced GaAs thin film solar cells

As a new method to improve the light trapping in solar cells, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has attracted considerable attention because of its unique characteristics. Several studies have been reported on the photocurrent improvement of Si solar cells by surface plasmons, while little research has been done on III-V solar cells. In this work, we performed a systematic study of SPR on GaAs thin film solar cells with different sizes of Ag nanoparticles on the surface. The nanoparticles were fabricated by annealing E-beam evaporated Ag films in a N₂ atmosphere. It was found that the surface plasmon resonance wavelength does not undergo a simple red-shift with increasing metal thickness. It depends on the shape of the metal nanoparticles and the interparticle spacing. It is necessary to optimize the particle size to obtain an optimum enhancement throughout the visible spectrum for solar cells. We found that the optimum thickness of the Ag film was 6 nm under our experimental conditions. Furthermore, from the calculation based on the external quantum efficiency data, the short circuit current density of a GaAs solar cell with 6 nm Ag film after annealing was increased by 14.2% over that of the untreated solar cell.     

RF sputtered indium-tin-oxide as antireflective coating for GaAs solar cells

Conductive and antireflective indium-tin-oxide (ITO) has been prepared by RF sputtering in Ar atmosphere, without introducing oxygen into the plasma and on room temperature substrates in order to be used as antireflective coating on GaAs solar cells. The electrical resistivity of the n-type, degenerate ITO films exhibited a reduction with deposition rate and an increase with total pressure, while it was independent of the film thickness in the range of 20 nm to 130 run. Further reduction of resistivity, up to 4 × 10⁻⁴ Ωcm, was obtained by annealing at 400°C. This is the lowest resistivity that has been reported for TTO films prepared under similar conditions. The transmittance of 90 nm thick ITO film was 85% and the reflectance of p/n GaAs solar cell was reduced from 35% to 2% after the ITO layer application.     

Colloid attachment by ILGAR-layers: Creating fluorescing layers to increase quantum efficiency of solar cells

A method for the fixation of colloids by an ion-layer-gas-reaction-“ILGAR”-oxide layer is presented. The embedding of CdS nano-particles in an ILGAR-ZnO/Zn(OH)₂-matrix is confirmed by transmission electron micrographs (TEM); the composition of the layer surface is analyzed by X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS). When these particles are fixed by an ILGAR-oxide layer on top of a solar cell the observed absorption and fluorescing properties of CdS nano-particles offer the possibility to reduce the absorption loss in the window layer. This is shown for a Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)₂-“CIGSSe”-based solar cell with an additional top CdS_particle/ILGAR-ZrO₂-layer as a first example. The improvement of the device performance is proven by J(V)-characteristics and the external quantum efficiency.