Effects of internal structure on electrical properties of a-Si:H solar cell

Results of a computer analysis of a p-i-n structure a-Si:H solar cell for different impurity gradients of p-i transitions and for various added acceptor and donor impurities in the i-layer are presented. It was found that the impurity gradient of a p-i transition in the p-i-n structure of an a-Si:H solar cell, when the illumination is incident on the p⁺-layer, has little influence on cell optoelectrical properties. This is true as long as the p-layer does not penetrate too deeply into the i-layer. Acceptor impurities, added into the i-layer, lower cell efficiency strongly, while the addition of donor impurities reduces cell properties only slightly