Current losses at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells

Zachary C. Holman; Antoine Descoeudres; Loris Barraud; Fernando Zicarelli Fernandez; Johannes P. Seif; Stefaan De Wolf; Christophe Ballif

doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2011.2174967

Current losses at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells

Zachary C. Holman^*, Antoine Descoeudres, Loris Barraud, Fernando Zicarelli Fernandez, Johannes P. Seif, Stefaan De Wolf, Christophe Ballif

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

484 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The current losses due to parasitic absorption in the indium tin oxide (ITO) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells are isolated and quantified. Quantum efficiency spectra of cells in which select layers are omitted reveal that the collection efficiency of carriers generated in the ITO and doped a-Si:H layers is zero, and only 30% of light absorbed in the intrinsic a-Si:H layer contributes to the short-circuit current. Using the optical constants of each layer acquired from ellipsometry as inputs in a model, the quantum efficiency and short-wavelength current loss of a heterojunction cell with arbitrary a-Si:H layer thicknesses and arbitrary ITO doping can be correctly predicted. A 4 cm ² solar cell in which these parameters have been optimized exhibits a short-circuit current density of 38.1mA/cm ² and an efficiency of 20.8%.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	6129468
Pages (from-to)	7-15
Number of pages	9
Journal	IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Volume	2
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2011.2174967
State	Published - 2012
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Amorphous silicon
heterojunctions
photovoltaic cells
silicon
solar cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1109/JPHOTOV.2011.2174967

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title = "Current losses at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells",

abstract = "The current losses due to parasitic absorption in the indium tin oxide (ITO) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells are isolated and quantified. Quantum efficiency spectra of cells in which select layers are omitted reveal that the collection efficiency of carriers generated in the ITO and doped a-Si:H layers is zero, and only 30% of light absorbed in the intrinsic a-Si:H layer contributes to the short-circuit current. Using the optical constants of each layer acquired from ellipsometry as inputs in a model, the quantum efficiency and short-wavelength current loss of a heterojunction cell with arbitrary a-Si:H layer thicknesses and arbitrary ITO doping can be correctly predicted. A 4 cm 2 solar cell in which these parameters have been optimized exhibits a short-circuit current density of 38.1mA/cm 2 and an efficiency of 20.8%.",

keywords = "Amorphous silicon, heterojunctions, photovoltaic cells, silicon, solar cells",

author = "Holman, {Zachary C.} and Antoine Descoeudres and Loris Barraud and Fernandez, {Fernando Zicarelli} and Seif, {Johannes P.} and {De Wolf}, Stefaan and Christophe Ballif",

note = "Funding Information: Manuscript received September 9, 2011; revised October 27, 2011; accepted November 1, 2011. Date of publication January 12, 2012; date of current version January 30, 2012. This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), Collaborative Project “20plμs” with the full title: “Further development of very thin wafer based c-Si photovoltaics” under Grant 256695, by Axpo Naturstrom Fonds, Switzerland, and by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation under Project 9908 PFNMM-NM.",

year = "2012",

doi = "10.1109/JPHOTOV.2011.2174967",

language = "English (US)",

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journal = "IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics",

issn = "2156-3381",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Current losses at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells

AU - Holman, Zachary C.

AU - Descoeudres, Antoine

AU - Barraud, Loris

AU - Fernandez, Fernando Zicarelli

AU - Seif, Johannes P.

AU - De Wolf, Stefaan

AU - Ballif, Christophe

N1 - Funding Information: Manuscript received September 9, 2011; revised October 27, 2011; accepted November 1, 2011. Date of publication January 12, 2012; date of current version January 30, 2012. This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), Collaborative Project “20plμs” with the full title: “Further development of very thin wafer based c-Si photovoltaics” under Grant 256695, by Axpo Naturstrom Fonds, Switzerland, and by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation under Project 9908 PFNMM-NM.

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - The current losses due to parasitic absorption in the indium tin oxide (ITO) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells are isolated and quantified. Quantum efficiency spectra of cells in which select layers are omitted reveal that the collection efficiency of carriers generated in the ITO and doped a-Si:H layers is zero, and only 30% of light absorbed in the intrinsic a-Si:H layer contributes to the short-circuit current. Using the optical constants of each layer acquired from ellipsometry as inputs in a model, the quantum efficiency and short-wavelength current loss of a heterojunction cell with arbitrary a-Si:H layer thicknesses and arbitrary ITO doping can be correctly predicted. A 4 cm 2 solar cell in which these parameters have been optimized exhibits a short-circuit current density of 38.1mA/cm 2 and an efficiency of 20.8%.

AB - The current losses due to parasitic absorption in the indium tin oxide (ITO) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells are isolated and quantified. Quantum efficiency spectra of cells in which select layers are omitted reveal that the collection efficiency of carriers generated in the ITO and doped a-Si:H layers is zero, and only 30% of light absorbed in the intrinsic a-Si:H layer contributes to the short-circuit current. Using the optical constants of each layer acquired from ellipsometry as inputs in a model, the quantum efficiency and short-wavelength current loss of a heterojunction cell with arbitrary a-Si:H layer thicknesses and arbitrary ITO doping can be correctly predicted. A 4 cm 2 solar cell in which these parameters have been optimized exhibits a short-circuit current density of 38.1mA/cm 2 and an efficiency of 20.8%.

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Current losses at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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