Abstract
We theoretically explain and experimentally demonstrate light trapping in thin-film solar cells through guided-mode resonance (GMR) effects. Resonant field enhancement and propagation path elongation lead to enhanced solar absorption. We fabricate nanopatterned solar cells containing embedded 300-nm period, one-dimensional gratings. The grating pattern is fabricated on a glass substrate using laser interference lithography followed by a transparent conducting oxide coating as a top contact. A ∼320-nm thick p-i-n hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cell is deposited over the patterned substrate followed by bottom contact deposition. We measure optical and electrical properties of the resonant solar cells. Compared to a planar reference solar cell, around 35% integrated absorption enhancement is observed over the 450 to 750-nm wavelength range. This light-management method results in enhanced short-circuit current density of 14.8 mA/cm 2 , which is a ∼40% improvement over planar solar cells. Our experimental demonstration proves the potential of simple and well-designed GMR features in thin-film solar cells.
Highlights
Thin-film solar cell technology offers benefits of low-cost material usage and processing relative to currently dominant crystalline silicon solar cells
The reflected and transmitted light associated with the patterned amorphous silicon (a-Si):H solar cells are measured with a fiber optic spectrometer
Since no higher diffraction orders exist beyond the 450-nm wavelength, it suffices as a good approximation to measure the reflectance and transmittance for normally incident light without using an integrating sphere
Summary
Thin-film solar cell technology offers benefits of low-cost material usage and processing relative to currently dominant crystalline silicon solar cells. With a highly concentrated field, a thin absorbing layer sufficiently absorbs most of the solar spectrum This allows further reduction of the absorbing layer thickness and ensures minimal usage of materials and better collection efficiency for low-quality materials. Khaleque and Magnusson: Light management through guided-mode resonances in thin-film silicon solar cells microdomain or nanodomain photonic structures showing enhanced absorption and photocurrents. We experimentally demonstrate the application of simple designs of one-dimensional (1-D) nanograting patterns into thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells. With these particular operative effects, the periodic spatial pattern couples the input sunlight into a collection of waveguide modes associated with thin wave-guiding films that resonate in the cell and concentrate the light in the active layer. We describe the fabrication processes and present experimental results that comply with our theoretical analysis
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