Optical Evaluation of the Rear Contacts of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Coupled Electromagnetic and Statistical Ray-Optics Modeling
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ArticleKAUST Department
KAUST Solar Center (KSC)Material Science and Engineering Program
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Date
2017-02-15Online Publication Date
2017-02-15Print Publication Date
2017-05Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/623055
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High-efficiency crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells increasingly feature sophisticated electron and hole contacts aimed at minimizing electronic losses. At the rear of photovoltaic devices, such contacts—usually consisting of stacks of functional layers—offer opportunities to enhance the infrared response of the solar cells. Here, we propose an accurate and simple modeling procedure to evaluate the infrared performance of rear contacts in c-Si solar cells. Our method combines full-wave electromagnetic modeling of the rear contact with a statistical ray optics model to obtain the fraction of optical energy dissipated from the rear contact relative to that absorbed by the Si wafer. Using this technique, we study the impact of the refractive index, extinction coefficient, and thickness of the rear-passivating layer and establish basic design rules. In addition, we evaluate novel optical structures, including stratified thin films, nanoparticle composites, and conductive nanowires embedded in a low-index dielectric matrix, for integration into advanced rear contacts in c-Si photovoltaic devices. From an optical perspective, nanowire structures preserving low contact resistance appear to be the most effective approach to mitigating dissipation losses from the rear contact.Citation
Dabirian A, Morales-Masis M, Haug F-J, De Wolf S, Ballif C (2017) Optical Evaluation of the Rear Contacts of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Coupled Electromagnetic and Statistical Ray-Optics Modeling. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics: 1–10. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2663658.Sponsors
This work was supported in part by the European Commission (FP7 project HERCULES under Grant 608498 and CHEETAH project under Grant 609788), in part by CCEM through Connect PV project, in part by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy, in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under the FPaceII project, and in part by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.Journal
IEEE Journal of PhotovoltaicsAdditional Links
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7856966/ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2663658