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Development of n-type microcrystalline SiOx:H films and its application by innovative way to improve the performance of single junction µc-Si:H solar cell

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Abstract

Light trapping is one of the fundamental necessities of thin film based solar cell for its performance elevation. Back reflection of unused light of first pass is the key way to improve the light trapping phenomena. In this study we have reported the development of n-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon oxide (n-µc-SiO:H) layers of different characteristics. The deposition has been done by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) technique. The detailed characterization of the films include the following: (1) electrical properties (2) optical properties like E04 (3) structural studies which include crystalline fraction by Raman spectroscopy and grain size by X-ray diffraction measurement, FTIR spectroscopy, AFM and TEM studies. n-µc-SiO:H layer has been introduced as the n-layer of single junction p–i–n structure µc-Si solar cells. By various techniques the optimum use of n-µc-SiO:H layer for enhancing the performance of µc-Si:H solar cells has been done. It has been found that by using suitable bilayer of two different n-µc-SiO:H layers, it is possible to increase the solar cell performances. The maximum efficiency obtained without any back reflector is 8.44% that is about 8.9% higher than that obtained by using n-µc-Si:H layer as n-layer in the solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India. Gourab Das gratefully acknowledges DST-INSPIRE Programme Division (Govt. of India) for their financial support and Mr. G. Basak of IACS, Kolkata for XRD measurements. One of the authors, Sourav Mandal is also acknowledging the University Grant Commission (UGC) for their support. We thank Prof. H. Saha for his support in all aspects. Authors would also like to thank Mr, D. Shome, (Technical Consultant) for his excellent support in experimental deposition of thin films. All the authors are acknowledging SSN Research Centre, Chennai for their support in many aspects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Excellence for Green Energy and Sensor Systems, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah, 711103, India

    Gourab Das, Sourav Mandal, Sukanta Dhar, Sukanta Bose, Sumita Mukhopadhyay & A. K. Barua

  2. National Institute of Solar Energy, Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon, Haryana, 122003, India

    Chandan Banerjee

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  1. Gourab Das
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  2. Sourav Mandal
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  3. Sukanta Dhar
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  4. Sukanta Bose
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  5. Sumita Mukhopadhyay
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  6. Chandan Banerjee
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  7. A. K. Barua
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Correspondence to Gourab Das.

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Das, G., Mandal, S., Dhar, S. et al. Development of n-type microcrystalline SiOx:H films and its application by innovative way to improve the performance of single junction µc-Si:H solar cell. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 5746–5753 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-6246-y

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