Numerical modeling of multijunction, amorphous silicon based p-i-n solar cells

Author

Pawlikiewicz, A.H. ; Guha, S.

Author_Institution

Energy Conversion Devices Inc., Troy, MI, USA

fYear

1988

fDate

1988

Firstpage

251

Abstract

A description is given of a simulation program for multijunction a-Si alloy solar cells which allows for the accurate calculation of double and triple cell-response under global AM1.5 illumination. Each device is described by a complete set of Poisson and current continuity equations covering the amorphous intrinsic and highly conductive microcrystalline contacts. The program allows for optical and mobility bandgap variation as well as for spatial variation in doping densities, device thicknesses, and spectrum modification. Excellent agreement between experimental and simulated results for a dual bandgap triple solar cell confirms the reliability of the model. To achieve even higher efficiencies a novel triple-cell structure with lower-bandgap material is proposed. This approach is viable due to the bandgap profiling, which compensates for the poorer transport properties of narrower-bandgap alloys.

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors; digital simulation; elemental semiconductors; engineering computing; silicon; solar cells; Poisson equations; amorphous Si solar cells; bandgap profiling; current continuity equations; device thicknesses; digital simulation; doping densities; global AM1.5 illumination; highly conductive microcrystalline contacts; mobility bandgap variation; multijunction solar cells; semiconductors; spectrum modification; Amorphous materials; Amorphous silicon; Doping; Lighting; Numerical models; Optical devices; PIN photodiodes; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Poisson equations;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1988., Conference Record of the Twentieth IEEE

Conference_Location

Las Vegas, NV, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1988.105697

Filename

105697