Potential of photocurrent improvement in µc-Si:H solar cells with TCO substrates structured by direct laser interference patterning

TARETTO, KURT R.; SOLDERA, MARCOS M.; LASAGNI, ANDRÉS F.; BERGER, JANA

ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS (PRINT)

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Lugar: Weinheim; Año: 2016 vol. 18 p. 1674 - 1682

1438-1656

Thin film solar cells based on weak absorbers like hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (µc Si:H) need an effective light management to maximize light absorption. In this work we study numerically the light trapping capability of boron doped zinc oxide (ZnO:B) coated substrates textured by direct laser interference patterning (DLIP). The geometric parameters of the simulated patterns are taken from measurements of DLIP processed samples with sine-like grooves. Our results suggest that this technology is suitable to enhance the photocurrent by 15-35% of µc Si:H solar cells deposited on ZnO:B using texture periods between 0.8 µm and 1.5 µm and a 2 µm active layer.