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D-M-D Plasmonic Anti-Reflector for Next-Generation Thin c-Si Solar Cell Applications

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Abstract

In this paper, focus is on the light trapping surface in crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells where thinner c-Si wafers are expected to be used by industry to reduce the cost of cell manufacturing. Currently, 180-μm-thick wafers are being used for fabricating c-Si solar cells where textured surface coated with silicon nitride (SiN x ) anti-reflector enhances the light trapping. However, surface texturing process roughens the surface and increases the probability of more surface recombination as the wafer thickness decreases. This paper presents an analytical analysis for the development of plasmonic anti-reflector as an alternative to traditional texturization for next-generation thin c-Si solar cells. The analysis indicates that loss in current generation due to Si wafer thickness reduction up to 100 μm from currently used 180 μm would not be more than 0.5 mA/cm2 if the light trapping structure is excellent. A 100-μm wafer thickness reduction would increase the front escape of light but not more than 1%. PC1D simulation incorporating experimental reflectance from an equivalent 100-μm thin c-Si wafer-based solar cell structure having proposed dielectric-metal-dielectric (D-M-D)-based anti-reflector indicates 1.2–1.3 mA/cm2 current enhancement when compared with a standard SiN x anti-reflector.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been carried out at the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE), IIT-Bombay supported by the “Ministry of New Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India.” The authors would like to acknowledge Sandeep Kumbhar, Dr. S. Saravanan, Anzar Gani, and other colleagues at NCPRE for their help in fabrication. The authors would also like to acknowledge Dr. Aldrin Antony for discussion and support in deposition of silicon oxynitride (SiON). One of the authors acknowledges MNRE for funding AMANSI project. Authors also acknowledge IIT Bombay Nanofabrication Facility (IITBNF) and the faculty members (Prof. Anil, Prof. B.M. Arora, and Prof. K.L. Narasimhan, Prof. J. Vasi) as well as the staff members for their great team work and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE), IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Hemant Kumar Singh, Som Mondal, Balraj Arunachalam, Anishkumar Soman, Pratibha Sharma & C. S. Solanki

  2. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Hemant Kumar Singh, Som Mondal, Balraj Arunachalam, Anishkumar Soman, Pratibha Sharma & C. S. Solanki

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  1. Hemant Kumar Singh
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Correspondence to Hemant Kumar Singh.

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Singh, H.K., Mondal, S., Arunachalam, B. et al. D-M-D Plasmonic Anti-Reflector for Next-Generation Thin c-Si Solar Cell Applications. Plasmonics 13, 705–714 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-017-0563-8

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