Antireflection Coating for Solar Cells Based on Graded-Index Materials

Abstract

The conversion of sunlight into electricity via photovoltaics presents tremendous opportunities for the generation of renewable energy. However, solar cells still face several challenges and limitations to further reduce manufacturing costs and increase module efficiency. Photon management is paramount to increase the efficiency of the mainstream silicon-based cell and always includes a suitable antireflection coating (ARC) structure to decrease the reflectance (R) at the top surface. We propose a novel triple-layer anti-reflective coating (TLAR) consisting of three layers sandwiched between the upper cover (glass) and the substrate (silicon). The inner three layers are graded refractive index material (GIM) as an active layer, titanium dioxide (TiO2), and zinc sulfide (ZnS), respectively. The optical properties of the TLAR have been investigated using the transfer matrix method (TMM). The results of using GIM as the active medium lead to the reflection decaying to the minimum value, and the transmittance reaching the maximum values at a specific wavelength range. The proposed triple-layer anti-reflective coating (TLAR) structure presents a promising solution for enhancing the efficiency of solar cells. Its unique design and utilization of graded refractive index material (GIM) as the active layer make it a novel and innovative approach that holds great potential for advancing solar cell technology.