Abstract
Improving the light absorption in thin-film solar cell is essential for enhancing efficiency and reducing cost. Here, we propose an ultra-broadband amorphous silicon solar cell based on a periodic array of titanium ring-shaped metasurfaces, which achieves more than 90% absorptance in the visible range of the solar spectrum. The surface plasmon resonance supported by the nanoparticles together with the resonance induced by the metal–insulator–metal Fabry–Perot cavity leads to this broadband absorption. The impact of various materials of functional layers and the geometric structure of the nanoparticle on absorption performance is discussed in detail, and super broadband resonance is achieved after optimization. Moreover, the optimized solar cell is tested for different solar incidence angles and it is found that the structure exhibits high absorption efficiency even at large angles. Thus, the proposed solar cell design may be beneficial for most of the photovoltaic applications.
Highlights
Solar photovoltaics are mainly dominated by mono- and multi-crystalline silicon solar cells due to their reliability and stability in terms of power efficiency
Chen et al proposed a new design of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film cell where they used a bilayer Al–Ag grating in combination with a SiO2 layer on the top surface, and an Ag mirror at the bottom surface
We studied the optical properties of a novel a-Si solar cell, which is based on titanium (Ti) ring-shaped nanoparticles that exhibit broadband absorption resonance in the visible region
Summary
Solar photovoltaics are mainly dominated by mono- and multi-crystalline silicon solar cells due to their reliability and stability in terms of power efficiency. Chen et al proposed a new design of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film cell where they used a bilayer Al–Ag grating in combination with a SiO2 layer on the top surface, and an Ag mirror at the bottom surface They managed to achieve 78% optical absorption efficiency in the wavelength range of 370–580 nm [15]. We studied the optical properties of a novel a-Si solar cell, which is based on titanium (Ti) ring-shaped nanoparticles that exhibit broadband absorption resonance in the visible region This broadband response appears due to the interaction of localized surface plasmons of the nanoring and the metal–insulator–metal cavity modes. The solar cell exhibits better absorption efficiency even for higher incidence angles, which suggests that the proposed design can effectively contribute in solving the issue of high power conversion efficiency
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