Crystalline silicon solar cells with micro/nano texture

Abstract

Crystalline silicon solar cells with two-scale texture consisting of random upright pyramids and surface nanotextured layer directly onto the pyramids are prepared and reflectance properties and I–V characteristics measured. Random pyramids texture is produced by etching in an alkaline solution. On top of the pyramids texture, a nanotexture is developed using an electroless oxidation/etching process. Solar cells with two-scale surface texturization are prepared following the standard screen-printing technology sequence. The micro/nano surface is found to lower considerably the light reflectance of silicon. The short wavelengths spectral response (blue response) improvement is observed in micro/nano textured solar cells compared to standard upright pyramids textured cells. An efficiency of 17.5% is measured for the best micro/nano textured c-Si solar cell. The efficiency improvement is found to be due to the gain in both Jsc and Voc.