Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture
Microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells are processed on glass superstrates having both micro- and nanoscale surface textures. The microscale texture is realised at the glass surface, using the aluminium-induced texturing (AIT) method, which is an industrially feasible process enabl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2015-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Photoenergy |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/358276 |
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| author | Yunfeng Yin Nasim Sahraei Selvaraj Venkataraj Sonya Calnan Sven Ring Bernd Stannowski Rutger Schlatmann Armin G. Aberle Rolf Stangl |
| author_facet | Yunfeng Yin Nasim Sahraei Selvaraj Venkataraj Sonya Calnan Sven Ring Bernd Stannowski Rutger Schlatmann Armin G. Aberle Rolf Stangl |
| author_sort | Yunfeng Yin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells are processed on glass superstrates having both micro- and nanoscale surface textures. The microscale texture is realised at the glass surface, using the aluminium-induced texturing (AIT) method, which is an industrially feasible process enabling a wide range of surface feature sizes (i.e., 700 nm–3 μm) of the textured glass. The nanoscale texture is made by conventional acid etching of the sputter-deposited transparent conductive oxide (TCO). The influence of the resulting “double texture” on the optical scattering is investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) (studying the surface topology), haze measurements (studying scattering into air), and short-circuit current enhancement measurements (studying scattering into silicon). A predicted enhanced optical scattering efficiency is experimentally proven by a short-circuit current enhancement ΔIsc of up to 1.6 mA/cm2 (7.7% relative increase) compared to solar cells fabricated on a standard superstrate, that is, planar glass covered with nanotextured TCO. Enhancing the autocorrelation length (or feature size) of the AIT superstrates might have the large potential to improve the μc-Si:H thin-film solar cell efficiency, by reducing the shunting probability of the device while maintaining a high optical scattering performance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9b79124ef3d34518a4c7f696404b88b2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1110-662X 1687-529X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Photoenergy |
| spelling | doaj-art-9b79124ef3d34518a4c7f696404b88b22025-02-03T01:04:51ZengWileyInternational Journal of Photoenergy1110-662X1687-529X2015-01-01201510.1155/2015/358276358276Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double TextureYunfeng Yin0Nasim Sahraei1Selvaraj Venkataraj2Sonya Calnan3Sven Ring4Bernd Stannowski5Rutger Schlatmann6Armin G. Aberle7Rolf Stangl8Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 117574, SingaporeSolar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 117574, SingaporeSolar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 117574, SingaporeHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, PVcomB, Schwarzschildstrasse 3, 12489 Berlin, GermanyHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, PVcomB, Schwarzschildstrasse 3, 12489 Berlin, GermanyHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, PVcomB, Schwarzschildstrasse 3, 12489 Berlin, GermanyHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, PVcomB, Schwarzschildstrasse 3, 12489 Berlin, GermanySolar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 117574, SingaporeSolar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 117574, SingaporeMicrocrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells are processed on glass superstrates having both micro- and nanoscale surface textures. The microscale texture is realised at the glass surface, using the aluminium-induced texturing (AIT) method, which is an industrially feasible process enabling a wide range of surface feature sizes (i.e., 700 nm–3 μm) of the textured glass. The nanoscale texture is made by conventional acid etching of the sputter-deposited transparent conductive oxide (TCO). The influence of the resulting “double texture” on the optical scattering is investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) (studying the surface topology), haze measurements (studying scattering into air), and short-circuit current enhancement measurements (studying scattering into silicon). A predicted enhanced optical scattering efficiency is experimentally proven by a short-circuit current enhancement ΔIsc of up to 1.6 mA/cm2 (7.7% relative increase) compared to solar cells fabricated on a standard superstrate, that is, planar glass covered with nanotextured TCO. Enhancing the autocorrelation length (or feature size) of the AIT superstrates might have the large potential to improve the μc-Si:H thin-film solar cell efficiency, by reducing the shunting probability of the device while maintaining a high optical scattering performance.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/358276 |
| spellingShingle | Yunfeng Yin Nasim Sahraei Selvaraj Venkataraj Sonya Calnan Sven Ring Bernd Stannowski Rutger Schlatmann Armin G. Aberle Rolf Stangl Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture International Journal of Photoenergy |
| title | Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture |
| title_full | Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture |
| title_fullStr | Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture |
| title_short | Light Scattering and Current Enhancement for Microcrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells on Aluminium-Induced Texture Glass Superstrates with Double Texture |
| title_sort | light scattering and current enhancement for microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells on aluminium induced texture glass superstrates with double texture |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/358276 |
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