An Extensive Review Owing to the Influence of Surface Coating on the Technical Performance of Solar Cells

Abstract

Global energy consumption rate is getting higher and higher day by day due to industrialization, urbanization, increased population, etc. Hence, conventional non-renewable energy sources were been draining at faster rate due to excessive utilization. In the future, global energy needs might fully rely on the renewable energy sources. Solar energy is one among the renewable energy sources. Solar photovoltaic technology transforms solar energy into electrical energy by means of solar cells. Various photovoltaic cells were been engineered for obtaining stability and higher efficiency. But performance of solar cells was been hindered by various factors such as reflection, temperature, current–voltage, battery, and inverter efficiency. In this review article, we are focusing on reducing the reflection losses through the application of Anti-Reflection Coatings (ARCs) which may result in enhancing solar cell efficiency. ARCs through various deposition techniques were been discussed in this article. The most common coating technique preferred for ARC especially in the perspective of reducing reflectance is sputter deposition technique. Through this technique, a transparent coating can be achieved easily. In this technique, the material from the target is coated over the substrate in an inert gas environment, preferably argon. The operating pressure is quite low, and high-quality coated films can be achieved through this technique. This in turn reduces reflection losses and ensures better power conversion efficiency (PCE).