Numerical modelling of non-ideal current-voltage characteristics of high-efficiency silicon solar cells

Author

Heiser, Gernot ; Aberle, Armin G.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., New South Wales Univ., Sydney, NSW, Australia

fYear

1994

fDate

5-6 Jun 1994

Firstpage

177

Lastpage

180

Abstract

Under one-sun illumination, the highest energy conversion efficiencies of silicon solar cells are presently obtained with bifacially contacted n⁺p cells, where contact to the p-type substrate is made via small openings in the rear passivating oxide. Experimentally, it has been found that the dark and illuminated current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of these devices deviate strongly from ideal diode theory. In this work the experimental I-V curves are compared with results obtained from 2- and 3-dimensional (2D, 3D) device simulation based on experimental cell parameters. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. The paper shows why these solar cells cannot accurately be modelled by 1D simulators and reveals the physical reasons underlying the observed non-idealities

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; semiconductor device models; silicon; simulation; solar cells; Si; bifacially contacted n⁺p cells; current-voltage characteristics; device simulation; energy conversion efficiencies; high-efficiency solar cells; ideal diode theory; nonideal I-V characteristics; numerical modelling; p-type substrate; passivating oxide; Current-voltage characteristics; Light emitting diodes; Lighting; Numerical models; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Sun; Surface resistance; Thickness measurement; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Numerical Modeling of Processes and Devices for Integrated Circuits, 1994. NUPAD V., International Workshop on

Conference_Location

Honolulu, HI

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1867-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NUPAD.1994.343463

Filename

343463