PC2D: A Circular-Reference Spreadsheet Solar Cell Device Simulator

This paper introduces PC2D, which is a new silicon solar cell device simulator that models 2-D effects entirely within a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The semiconductor drift-diffusion equations for electrons and holes are implemented using an iterative solution of cell formulas containing circular references. The familiar spreadsheet user interface and open-source access make this 2-D simulator a natural companion to PC1D. The 2-D simulator can run “live,” responding immediately to every change in parameter, or in “drive” mode, using macros to guide the solver through common tasks such as generating a current-voltage or a quantum efficiency curve. Example device simulations are presented for a selective-emitter cell, an emitter wrap-through cell, and an interdigitated back-contact cell.