Sol–gel TiO 2 antireflective films for textured monocrystalline silicon solar cells

Abstract

The aim of this study is validate the sol–gel method as a procedure to prepare antireflective films (AR) for textured monocrystalline solar cells. In this way, sol–gel TiO 2 films were deposited on both microscope slides and textured monocrystalline silicon solar cells by dip coating. The solutions were prepared by mixing tetrabutyl ortotitanate, water and ethanol using a basic compound as catalytic agent. The sintering of the samples was performed in the 400–800 °C range, by using a heating rate of 30°/min. It was observed that the sintering atmosphere influenced the morphological and antireflective properties of the films. The film thickness was tailored by varying the withdrawal rate. GAXRD analysis showed that nanocrystalline titania anatase and rutile were formed and the average crystallite size increased with the sintering temperature. The solar averaged reflectance of the textured monocrystalline solar cells was reduced from 0.09 to 0.02 after the sol–gel TiO 2 deposition.