Efficient optical analysis of surface texture combinations for silicon solar cells

Nico Tucher; Johannes Eisenlohr; Peter Kiefel; Habtamu Gebrewold; Oliver Höhn; Hubert Hauser; Claas Müller; Jan Christoph Goldschmidt; Benedikt Bläsi

doi:10.1117/12.2228294

29 April 2016 Efficient optical analysis of surface texture combinations for silicon solar cells

Nico Tucher, Johannes Eisenlohr, Peter Kiefel, Habtamu Gebrewold, Oliver Höhn, Hubert Hauser, Claas Müller, Jan Christoph Goldschmidt, Benedikt Bläsi

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9898, Photonics for Solar Energy Systems VI; 98980F (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2228294
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2016, Brussels, Belgium

Abstract

Surface textures can significantly improve anti-reflective and light trapping properties of silicon solar cells. Combining standard pyramidal front side textures with scattering or diffractive rear side textures has the potential to further increase the light path length inside the silicon and thereby increase the solar cell efficiency. In this work we introduce the OPTOS (Optical Properties of Textured Optical Sheets) simulation formalism and apply it to the modelling of silicon solar cells with different surface textures at front and rear side. OPTOS is a matrix-based method that allows for the computationally-efficient calculation of non-coherent light propagation within textured solar cells, featuring multiple textures that may operate in different optical regimes. After calculating redistribution matrices for each individual surface texture with the most appropriate technique, optical properties like angle dependent reflectance, transmittance or absorptance can be determined via matrix multiplications. Using OPTOS, we demonstrate for example that the integration of a diffractive grating at the rear side of solar cells with random pyramids at the front results in an absorptance gain that corresponds to a photocurrent density enhancement of 0.73 mA/cm² for a 250 μm thick cell. The re-usability of matrices enables the investigation of different solar cell thicknesses within minutes. For thicknesses down to 50 μm the simulated gain increases up to 1.22 mA/cm². The OPTOS formalism is furthermore not restricted with respect to the number of textured interfaces. By combining two or more textured sheets to effective interfaces, it is possible to optically model a complete photovoltaic module including EVA and potentially textured glass layers with one calculation tool.

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Nico Tucher, Johannes Eisenlohr, Peter Kiefel, Habtamu Gebrewold, Oliver Höhn, Hubert Hauser, Claas Müller, Jan Christoph Goldschmidt, and Benedikt Bläsi "Efficient optical analysis of surface texture combinations for silicon solar cells", Proc. SPIE 9898, Photonics for Solar Energy Systems VI, 98980F (29 April 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2228294

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