Abstract
We present a systematic simulation study on the impact of disorder in thin film silicon solar cells with hybrid light trapping structure. For the periodical structures introducing certain randomness in some parameters, the nanophotonic light trapping effect is demonstrated to be superior to their periodic counterparts. The nanophotonic light trapping effect can be associated with the increased modes induced by the structural disorders. Our study is a systematic proof that certain disorder is conceptually an advantage for nanophotonic light trapping concepts in thin film solar cells. The result is relevant to the large field of research on nanophotonic light trapping which currently investigates and prototypes a number of new concepts including disordered periodic and quasiperiodic textures. The random effect on the shape of the pattern (position, height, and radius) investigated in this paper could be a good approach to estimate the influence of experimental inaccuracies for periodic or quasi-periodic structures.
Highlights
Thin film crystalline silicon (TF c-Si) solar cells show a great potential in the worldwide application of photovoltaic technologies
Between the REF cell and the PRSC, the reflectance is further decreased in the PRSC, especially in the long wavelengths, which illustrates that the presence of randomness improves the antireflection capability of the diffraction grating
The structural randomness is beneficial for light absorption enhancement in thin film silicon solar cells
Summary
Thin film crystalline silicon (TF c-Si) solar cells show a great potential in the worldwide application of photovoltaic technologies It has an active layer thickness of a few micrometers which decreases the material cost greatly and it could be fabricated in a low-cost, feasible way. The photocurrent conversion efficiency is largely constrained by the deteriorated light absorption due to the ultrathin active layer. For this reason, advanced light trapping strategies in solar cells are essential since they increase the absorption of incident sunlight. Lots of works have been done to find which structure behaves better in enhancing light absorption in solar cells, the random structure or the periodic structure.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
