Numerical simulation of light absorption enhancement in microcrystalline silicon solar cells with Al nanoparticle arrays

Abstract

Metal nanoparticles with low cost and high performance have good potential applications in light-trapping of solar cells. In this paper, a three-dimensional model is proposed to simulate the light absorption of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin film solar cells. The effects of spherical and hemispherical Al nanoparticle arrays located on the front surfaces of solar cells are investigated, and the particle radius and array period are optimized by the finite element method. The results show that the optimal Al nanoparticle arrays can enhance broadband absorption in thin film solar cells. For spherical particle arrays, the key parameter that influences light absorption in solar cells is period/radius ratio (P/R) or particle surface coverage. When P/R=4-5, the optimum integrated absorption enhancement (Eabs) is over 20% under AM1.5 illumination compared with the solar cell without nanoparticles. The value of Eabs is small and decreases with the increase of P/R when P/R>5, and Eabs is less than zero when P/RP=500 nm and R=120 nm, the spectral absorption rate as a function of wavelength shows broadband absorption including four distinct peaks, which are attributed to quadrupole plasmon resonance mode, dipole resonance mode and waveguide mode respectively according to the electric field distribution in the solar cell. For hemispherical particle arrays, the maximum value of Eabs is 24.5%, which is higher than that of the solar cell with optimized spherical particle arrays. This is due to the high coupling efficiencies of the particles, so that most of the scattered light is directly coupled into the substrate. However, the value of Eabs is very sensitive to the hemispherical particle radius. As the radius decreases, the scattering cross-section and scattering efficiency of the particle decrease dramatically. As the radius increases, the dipole plasmon resonance wavelength rapidly shifts towards longer wavelength (red shift). Both of these are detrimental to absorption enhancement of solar cells. Thus we conclude that spherical Al particle arrays are more preferable in actually fabricating the light-trapping of solar cells.