Numerical analysis of MgF2/SiO2 bilayers anti-reflective coating of light trapping in silicon solar cells by ray tracer software

Abstract

Anti-reflective coating (ARC) application is continuously being developed extensively and widely for the manufacture of coatings on the surfaces of optical devices which are hugely essential, desirable, and required, particularly on silicon solar cells. Single layer ARC is sufficient, but double layer ARC tremendously enhances solar cell efficiency by covering a wider range of the solar spectrum. Magnesium fluoride, MgF2 and silicon dioxide, SiO2 are the ARC coatings used in this work, with wavelengths in the range from 300 to 1200 nm. The optical properties of bilayer ARC coatings were obtained by varying the thickness of the double coatings and see how the ARC effects Si solar cells. Wafer ray tracer was used in PV Lighthouse software to simulate and model MgF2 and SiO2 bilayer ARC coatings in order to fully understand the performance and impacts of the coatings on Si solar cells. This simulation work contains the analysis of reflection, absorption, transmission, and Jmax, which have been compared to many other theoretical results gathered from other studies and researches. To conclude, the absorption of the wavelength is highest between 500 nm to 900 nm leads to lowest reflection. The output shows that bilayer anti-reflective coatings with the thickness of 75 nm MgF2 and SiO2 are much more effective where the value of Jmax is reach 32.80 mA/cm2. The Jmax enhancement compare to reference is 27.13% is achieved.