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) |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| City | Portland |
| Period | 6/5/16 → 6/10/16 |
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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
Cite this
Revisiting light trapping in silicon solar cells with random pyramids. / Manzoor, Salman; Filipic, Miha; Topic, Marko; Holman, Zachary.
2016 IEEE 43rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016. Vol. 2016-November Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2016. p. 2952-2954 7750201.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Revisiting light trapping in silicon solar cells with random pyramids
AU - Manzoor, Salman
AU - Filipic, Miha
AU - Topic, Marko
AU - Holman, Zachary
PY - 2016/11/18
Y1 - 2016/11/18
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - atomic force microscopy
KW - light trapping
KW - photovoltaic cells
KW - ray tracing
KW - silicon
KW - surface morphology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85003758545&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85003758545&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/PVSC.2016.7750201
DO - 10.1109/PVSC.2016.7750201
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85003758545
VL - 2016-November
SP - 2952
EP - 2954
BT - 2016 IEEE 43rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ER -