Enhancing solar cell productivity with MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 blended anti-reflection coatings

Abstract

The enhancement of productivity in solar cells primarily relies on the application of anti-reflection coatings. The current research employs coating materials such as MgAl2O4, ZnAl2O4 and blended MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 as an anti-reflective layer on the monocrystalline Si solar cells by employing RF sputter coating method. Magnesium nitrate hexahydrate and aluminium nitrate nonahydrate were utilized for the synthesis of MgAl2O4 by the sol-gel technique. ZnAl2O4 was synthesized using zinc nitrate hexahydrate and aluminum nitrate nonahydrate by sol–gel procedure. The performance of coated photovoltaic cells was evaluated through different characterization techniques. From the optical study, the blended MgAl2O4-ZnAl2O4 coating shows the maximum absorbance of around 93 % and lowest reflectance of 9 %. The MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 blend achieves a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.12 % in a controlled light source and 19.21 % in direct sunlight. Compared to other solar cells, blended MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 demonstrates low resistivity (4.23 × 10−3 Ω-cm), high carrier concentration (35.81 × 1020 cm−3) and maximum hall mobility (12.96 cm2/Vs). From the surface temperature measurement, it is evident that the MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 blend coated solar cell exhibits lowest temperature of 38.2 °C under simulated light. The experimental results indicate that the blended MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 coated photovoltaic cells exhibits superior productivity than the various coated and uncoated solar cells. Therefore, it can be stated that MgAl2O4–ZnAl2O4 blends are the excellent antireflective materials for achieving desired PCE in solar photovoltaic cells.