Optical modeling of amorphous silicon-based solar cells on flat and textured substrates

Guoqiao Tao; J. W. Metselaar

doi:10.1117/12.217332

23 August 1995 Optical modeling of amorphous silicon-based solar cells on flat and textured substrates

Guoqiao Tao, J. W. Metselaar

Proceedings Volume 2531, Optical Materials Technology for Energy Efficiency and Solar Energy Conversion XIV; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.217332
Event: SPIE's 1995 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1995, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

In the course of developing amorphous silicon based solar cells, it is very important to know the profile of photo-generation rate in the device. This profile is strongly dependent on the optical properties of all the layers, the interface properties, and the incident light spectrum. In the case of a solar cell with flat interfaces, the interference effect at long wavelengths should be taken into account. The light absorption can be optimized at a certain layer thickness. However, in the case of a solar cell with a textured substrate, the problem becomes more complicated since light will be scattered at several rough interfaces. We have studied the light scattering at the rough interfaces in typical amorphous silicon solar cells, developed a computer model to simulate the optical behavior of a multi-layer system with rough interface and simulated amorphous silicon based solar cells with different structures: glass/TCO/pin(a- Si:H)/Ag, glass/TCO/pin(a-Si:H)/pin(a-Si:H)/Ag, glass/TCO/pin(a-Si:H)/TCO/Ag, and ITO/pin(a-Si:H)/TCO/Ag. In this paper, we present the method and the results of our optical modeling of amorphous silicon based solar cells. This modeling is performed for cells with flat or textured substrates.

Citation Download Citation

Guoqiao Tao and J. W. Metselaar "Optical modeling of amorphous silicon-based solar cells on flat and textured substrates", Proc. SPIE 2531, Optical Materials Technology for Energy Efficiency and Solar Energy Conversion XIV, (23 August 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.217332

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