Title :
Effect of Front TCO Layer on Properties of Substrate-Type Thin-Film Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells
Author :
Sai, Hitoshi ; Maejima, Keigo ; Matsui, Takuya ; Koida, Takashi ; Matsubara, Koji ; Kondo, Michio ; Takeuchi, Yoshiaki ; Sugiyama, Shuichiro ; Katayama, Hirotaka ; Yoshida, Isao
Author_Institution :
Res. Center for Photovoltaics, Nat. Inst. of Adv. Ind. Sci. & Technol., Tsukuba, Japan
Abstract :
Power conversion efficiency of thin-film microcrystalline silicon solar cells has been remarkably improved recently: from 10.1% to 11.8%. Front transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films have played an important role in this efficiency improvement. In this study, the impact of the front TCO films was investigated by comparing microcrystalline silicon solar cells with In2O3:Sn films grown by sputtering and ZnO:B films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Improvement mechanisms in open-circuit voltages and fill factors in solar cells are investigated and discussed.
Keywords :
II-VI semiconductors; MOCVD; boron; elemental semiconductors; indium compounds; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; sputter deposition; thin film devices; tin compounds; wide band gap semiconductors; zinc compounds; ITO-Si; MOCVD; ZnO:B-Si; fill factors; front TCO layer; front transparent conductive oxide films; metal-organic chemical vapor deposition; open-circuit voltages; power conversion efficiency; sputtering; substrate-type thin-film microcrystalline silicon solar cells; Conductive films; Light trapping; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Thin film devices; Conductive films; light trapping; photovoltaic cells; silicon; thin-film devices;
Journal_Title :
Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2478030
