Abstract
Random pyramids are the most widely used texture in monocrystalline silicon solar cells for reducing front-surface reflection and trapping weakly absorbed light. In prior efforts to evaluate the light-trapping performance of random pyramids through optical simulations, the base angle of the pyramids was assumed to be 54.7°, as is expected from the orientation of the crystallographic planes. In this contribution, we benchmark the light-trapping capability of real random pyramids - which have a distribution of base angles - against both ideal, 54.7° random pyramids, and a Lambertian scatterer. We do so by calculating the path length enhancement and fraction of rays remaining trapped as a function of passes through the wafer, and this information is used to calculate short-circuit current density as a function of wafer thickness. Interestingly, the excellent performance of real random pyramids - they are close to Lambertian - arises precisely because they are imperfect and have a distribution of angles.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | 2016 IEEE 43rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 |
Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
Pages | 2952-2954 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Volume | 2016-November |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781509027248 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 18 2016 |
Event | 43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 - Portland, United States Duration: Jun 5 2016 → Jun 10 2016 |
Other
Other | 43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 |
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Country | United States |
City | Portland |
Period | 6/5/16 → 6/10/16 |
Keywords
- atomic force microscopy
- light trapping
- photovoltaic cells
- ray tracing
- silicon
- surface morphology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering