TY - GEN
T1 - Inserting a Low-Refractive-Index Dielectric Rear Reflector into PERC Cells
T2 - 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019
AU - Bryan, Jonathan L.
AU - Joseph Koduvelikulathu, Lejo
AU - Peng, Zih Wei
AU - Carpenter, Joe V.
AU - Deceglie, Michael G.
AU - Silverman, Timothy J.
AU - Holman, Zachary C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 IEEE.
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - One of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce the operating temperature of photovoltaic systems in the field is to reflect unusable, "sub-bandgap" light with energies below the cell absorber's bandgap energy. In this work, low-refractive index SiO2 nanoparticle films inserted between c-Si wafers and metal electrodes significantly increase the reflectance of sub-bandgap light in fabricated test structures. These films are then integrated into the standard PERC fabrication sequence, revealing that the reflection benefits remains after some processing steps but are lost in certain conditions. The SiO2 nanoparticle films are easily ablated during laser contact opening, but are undesirably etched during post-laser cleaning. After Al metallization, the fully fabricated devices show enhanced sub-bandgap reflection when annealed at moderate temperatures, but energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy shows that high-temperature firing causes unwanted Al penetration into the SiO2 nanoparticle film, compromising reflection.
AB - One of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce the operating temperature of photovoltaic systems in the field is to reflect unusable, "sub-bandgap" light with energies below the cell absorber's bandgap energy. In this work, low-refractive index SiO2 nanoparticle films inserted between c-Si wafers and metal electrodes significantly increase the reflectance of sub-bandgap light in fabricated test structures. These films are then integrated into the standard PERC fabrication sequence, revealing that the reflection benefits remains after some processing steps but are lost in certain conditions. The SiO2 nanoparticle films are easily ablated during laser contact opening, but are undesirably etched during post-laser cleaning. After Al metallization, the fully fabricated devices show enhanced sub-bandgap reflection when annealed at moderate temperatures, but energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy shows that high-temperature firing causes unwanted Al penetration into the SiO2 nanoparticle film, compromising reflection.
KW - PERC solar cell
KW - crystalline silicon
KW - energy yield
KW - module temperature
KW - optics
KW - photovoltaic cells
KW - photovoltaic systems
KW - thermal management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081534977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85081534977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8980513
DO - 10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8980513
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85081534977
T3 - Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
SP - 648
EP - 652
BT - 2019 IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Y2 - 16 June 2019 through 21 June 2019
ER -