9.1% efficient zinc oxide/silicon solar cells on a 50 μm thick Si absorber

Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

article

Rafal Pietruszka¹  Bartlomiej S. Witkowski¹  Monika Ozga¹  Katarzyna Gwozdz²  Ewa Placzek-Popko²  Marek Godlewski¹ 

[1] Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences;Department of Quantum Technologies, Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

关键词: atomic layer deposition;    hydrothermal method;    photovoltaics;    silicon;    solar cell;    zinc oxide;   

DOI  :  10.3762/bjnano.12.60

学科分类：环境监测和分析

来源: Beilstein - Institut zur Foerderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften

【 摘 要 】

Today, silicon solar cells (amorphous films and wafer-based) are a main source of green energy. These cells and their componentsare produced by employing various technologies. Unfortunately, during the production process, chemicals that are harmful for theenvironment and for human life are used. For example, hydrofluoric acid is used to texture the top electrode to improve lightharvesting. In this work, and also in recent ones, we report a way to obtain 3D textures on the top electrode by using zinc oxidenanorods. The efficiency of a textured solar cell structure is compared with the one obtained for a planar zinc oxide/silicon structure. The present results show the possibility to produce efficient solar cells on a relatively thin 50 μm thick silicon substrate. Solarcells with structured top electrodes were examined by numerous measuring techniques. Scanning electron microscopy revealed agrain-like morphology of the magnesium-doped zinc oxide film. The size of the grains is closely related to the structure of thenanorods. The external quantum efficiency of the cells was measured. The obtained solar cell shows response in a wide spectralrange from ultraviolet to infrared. Current–voltage and current–voltage–temperature measurements were performed to evaluatebasic photovoltaic parameters. At room temperature, the cells efficiency equals to 9.1% for textured structures and 5.4% for planarstructures, respectively. The work, therefore, describes an environmentally friendly technology for PV architecture with surfacetextures increasing the efficiency of PV cells.

【 授权许可】

CC BY