Abstract
In this paper, the high efficiency TCO-n(aSi:H)-i(aSi:H)-p(c-Si)-\(\hbox {p}^{+}\)(aSi:H) heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) solar cell is analyzed. The effects of the intrinsic thin-layer and the back surface field (BSF) on the photovoltaic parameters of thin solar cells are discussed. The analytical results show that the intrinsic layer inserted at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface decreases the density of interface states. If the interface state density is lower than \(10^{11}\,\hbox {cm}^{-2}\) in the presence of an intrinsic thin layer a-Si:H, the effect of recombination current density on the photovoltaic parameters becomes low. The BSF formed by hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer can increase the conversion efficiency by about 2.6 % and the open-circuit voltage to \(\sim \)80 mV as compared to the HIT solar cell wherein the BSF is realized by crystalline silicon. The results obtained from the simulation studies are in good agreement with the literature, and might open promising opportunities for enhancing the design parameters of HIT cells.
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Abbreviations
- q :
-
Electron charge
- \(L_n^{+} \,(L_n )\) :
-
Electron diffusion length in the \(\hbox {p}^{+}\)-region (p-region)
- \(D_n^+\,(D_n)\) :
-
Electron diffusion coefficient in the \(\hbox {p}^{+}\)-region (p-region)
- \(N_a^+ \,(N_a )\) :
-
Doping concentrations in the \(\hbox {p}^{+}\)-region (p-region)
- \(N_d \) :
-
Doping concentrations in the emitter region
- \(N_{C,c-Si} (N_{C,a-Si} )\) :
-
Effective DOS in CB of c-Si (a-Si:H)
- \(N_{V,c-Si} (N_{V,a-Si} )\) :
-
Effective DOS in VB of c-Si (a-Si:H)
- \(n_{i,Si} \) :
-
Intrinsic carrier concentration of c-Si
- \(D_i \) :
-
Interface state density
- \(\alpha _{c-Si} \,(\alpha _{a-Si} )\) :
-
Absorption coefficient in the c-Si (a-Si:H)
- \(\phi \left( \lambda \right) \) :
-
Incident photon flux
- \(R\left( \lambda \right) \) :
-
Reflection coefficient at the front surface
- H :
-
Cell thickness
- \(W_B \) :
-
Base thickness
- \(S_p \,(S_n )\) :
-
Recombination velocity at the front (back) contact
- \(V_{th}\) :
-
Thermal velocity
- \(J_{ph,T} \left( \lambda \right) \) :
-
Total photocurrent density
- \(J_{0D}\) :
-
Reverse saturation current density in the emitter and base region
- \(J_{0Rb}\) :
-
Recombination current density in the bulk
- \(J_{0Ri}\) :
-
Recombination current density at the hetero-junction interface
- \(J_{sc}\) :
-
Short-circuit current density
- \(V_{oc} \) :
-
Open-circuit voltage
- \(\eta \) :
-
Cell efficiency
- FF :
-
Fill factor
- \(P_{in} \) :
-
Power density output
- \(R_s \,(R_{sh} )\) :
-
Series (shunt) resistance
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Mr. Anouar Smaoui from the English Language Unit at the Faculty of Science of Sfax for his valuable proofreading and language polishing services.
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Krichen, M., Arab, A.B. Analytical study of a-Si:H/c-Si thin heterojunction solar cells with back surface field. J Comput Electron 15, 269–276 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-015-0756-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-015-0756-3