The effect of interface trap states on reduced base thickness a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells

Author

Chavali, Raghu Vamsi K ; Wilcox, John R. ; Gray, Jeffery L.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

3-8 June 2012

Abstract

A simulation study of (p+) a-Si/ (i) a-Si/ (n) c-Si/ (i) a-Si/ (n+) a-Si solar cell is carried out to identify the carrier loss mechanisms, which are a-Si/c-Si interface and base recombination. Improvements in open circuit voltage (V_OC) and thus the efficiency can be achieved through better a-Si/c-Si interface passivation. In devices with excellent a-Si/c-Si interface passivation, base recombination is the dominant process. In such cases, reducing the base thickness (L_Base) increases the carrier concentration in the base. The L_Base can be reduced without significant loss in short circuit current (J_SC) through effective light trapping techniques. Next, the relative contributions of the emitter/base ((i) a-Si/ (n) c-Si) and base/Back Surface Field ((n) c-Si/ (i) a-Si) interfaces to the overall carrier recombination loss are discussed. It is found that both interfaces have similar contributions to total carrier loss in long as well as short base devices.

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors; elemental semiconductors; interface states; passivation; semiconductor heterojunctions; short-circuit currents; silicon; solar cells; Si; base recombination; carrier loss mechanisms; heterojunction solar cells; interface passivation; interface trap state effect; open circuit voltage; Charge carrier density; Charge carrier processes; Heterojunctions; Passivation; Performance evaluation; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; amorphous silicon; base thickness; carrier recombination; interface traps; modeling; silicon heterojunction;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE

Conference_Location

Austin, TX

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-0064-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317774

Filename

6317774