Optical and Quantum Electronics

, Volume 46, Issue 1, pp 193–200 | Cite as

Numerical simulation of solar cells based on III–V nitride compounds

  • K. Ameur
  • Z. Benamara
  • H. Mazari
  • N. Benseddik
  • R. Khelifi
  • M. Mostefaoui
  • N. Benyahya
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

In this paper, we developed a numerical calculation program, using Turbo Pascal, to determine the current–voltage characteristics of a \(\hbox {N}^{+}\hbox {P}\) solar cells in order to find the main parameters influencing the conversion efficiency. We adopted a one-dimensional numerical model for the resolution of the three semiconductor equations, which are: the Poisson’s equation and the two continuity equations of electrons and holes. Our system of equations is written in term of \(\varphi ,\, \varphi _{n}\), and \(\varphi _{p}\), and it’s resolved using the finite difference method. This code enables us to draw the current density versus the voltage for different layer thicknesses, the conversion efficiency versus the minority carrier life time and the spectral response versus the wavelength. In order to compare the conversion efficiency of two different solar cells, we simulated a solar cell based on III–V nitride compounds \((\hbox {In}_\mathrm{x}\hbox {Ga}_{1-\mathrm{x}}\hbox {N})\) and a monocrystalline silicon solar cell.

Keywords

Solar cells Conversion efficiency Numerical modeling Poisson equation Continuity equations Finite difference 

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • K. Ameur
    • 1
  • Z. Benamara
    • 1
  • H. Mazari
    • 1
  • N. Benseddik
    • 1
  • R. Khelifi
    • 1
  • M. Mostefaoui
    • 1
  • N. Benyahya
    • 1
  1. 1.Laboratoire de Microélectronique AppliquéeUniversité de Sidi Bel AbbésSidi Bel AbbésAlgeria

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