Performance analysis of c-Si heterojunction solar cell with passivated transition metal oxides carrier-selective contacts

Abstract

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) as passivating carrier-selective contact layers are investigated for silicon heterojunction solar cells. MoOx as hole-selective layer and TiOx as an electron-selective layer are explored in detail to design a high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cell without any specified surface passivation layer. The thickness and optical transparency of the MoOx hole-selective layer have been evaluated through optical simulation. The impact of TMOs’ work function and their passivation quality has been examined in detail to extract the maximum conversion efficiency from silicon heterojunction solar cells. To increase the optical absorption in c-Si, the micro–nanopillar structure has also been implemented. It has been found that the barrier height at the TMO/silicon heterocontact plays a significant role in the overall performance improvement of the solar cell. The optimized cell design without doping and separate passivating layer can achieve a power conversion efficiency of ~ 22%. Our findings open the potential pathways and opportunities to obtain simplified heterojunction solar cells at lower temperatures and without impurity doping.