Abstract
Silicon solar cells are suffering from a poor spectral response in short wavelength ranges due to the loss of higher energy photons. The luminescent down-shifting (LDS) materials have the ability to convert shorter wavelength photons into longer wavelength photons and improve the performance of the solar cells. However, besides the down-shifting effects, the introduction of LDS particles into ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) films on the solar cells also increases surface reflection, which will negatively influence the performance of the solar cells. In this study, the influence of the size of LDS particles inside EVA films on reflection is investigated theoretically. The results showed that the reflection results from the scattering by LDS particles, which depends on the particle’s size. The total reflection caused by LDS particles can be calculated according to the size distribution of LDS particles. This study is helpful in selecting LDS particles that can be applied to solar cells.
Highlights
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells are the most commonly used photovoltaic devices that convert solar energy into electricity
One of the factors limiting the efficiency is the spectral mismatch between the incident solar light and the bandgap of Si materials (Huang et al, 2013; Lian et al, 2013; Mambrini et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2017), which results in the poor spectral response of Si solar cells in short wavelengths (300–500 nm) due to the energy loss of shortwavelength photons (Shao et al, 2015)
These results are helpful in choosing the luminescent down-shifting (LDS) particles with suitable sizes for application in solar cells
Summary
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells are the most commonly used photovoltaic devices that convert solar energy into electricity. One of the factors limiting the efficiency is the spectral mismatch between the incident solar light and the bandgap of Si materials (Huang et al, 2013; Lian et al, 2013; Mambrini et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2017), which results in the poor spectral response of Si solar cells in short wavelengths (300–500 nm) due to the energy loss of shortwavelength photons (Shao et al, 2015). The introduced particles in EVA films cause scattering of light and increase surface reflection, which leads to energy loss and offsets the down-shifting effects. The reflection caused by the scatter is modeled on the basis of the structure shown, which includes EVA films of thickness 300 μm and embedded luminescent down-shifting particles with different diameters. The detector collects the light scattered by the particles in EVA films
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