High-efficiency and ultrathin crystalline silicon solar cells (SCs) with a frequency upconversion (UC) layer and an array of silver nanohemispheres were presented. The light-trapping performances of SCs embedded with different volume ratios and radii of Ag nanohemispheres were systematically studied by finite-element analysis. The simulation results show that the short-circuit current density of the SCs and the light-field intensity in the UC layer can be significantly improved by adjusting the structural parameters of Ag nanohemispheres. The short-circuit current density of the structured SCs have been improved by 16.48% and the light-field intensity in the UC layer has been increased by 2.65 times compared to that of planar SCs. Additionally, the UC effects on the power conversion efficiency of the SCs were also investigated. The presented model will serve as the basis for further preparations of high-efficiency ultrathin crystalline SCs.
The optical trap of thin-film silicon solar cells is very important for improving efficiency and reducing cost. A composite nanostructure with front silicon nanocone gratings and rear Ag nanohemisphere gratings is proposed. The relationship between the geometrical parameters of the hybrid nanostructures and the optical properties of the silicon solar cells was studied using the finite element method. The light-harvesting ability was studied systematically using COMSOL Multiphysics. The simulation results show that the optimum parameters of the front silicon nanocone grating are a diameter of 350 nm, height of 250 nm, and pitch/diameter ratio of 1.1. The optimum parameters of the rear Ag hemispherical grating are a diameter of 270 nm and pitch/diameter ratio of 1.4. The average absorption of the hybrid nanostructure solar cell is 78.5%, and the short-circuit current density is 36.6 mA/cm2, representing an enhancement of 171.1% compared with that (13.5 mA/cm2) of the reference cell.
KEYWORDS: Solar cells, Absorption, Silicon, Nanostructures, Crystals, Reflection, Optical spheres, Titanium dioxide, Finite element methods, Solar energy
Ultrathin-crystalline-silicon solar cell is important for its low cost and flexibility, but its efficiency is low. Light trapping technology is a useful way to improve the efficiency. In this paper, we design a TiO2 nanosphere arrays on the top of the ultrathin-crystalline-silicon solar cells with 2-μm-thickness to achieve advanced light trapping property. The finite element method is used to study the optical properties of the sphere nanostructure on the ultrathin-crystalline-silicon solar cells. The light trapping ability is systematically studied by COMSOL multiphysics. The results show that the sphere nanostructure can highly increase the light absorption of the ultrathin-crystalline-silicon in the wavelengths from 300 to 1200 nm. The average absorption rate increases by 58.63% compared to 2-μm-thick crystalline silicon.
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