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A thin‐film silicon solar cell and module
Author(s) -
Yamamoto Kenji,
Nakajima Akihiko,
Yoshimi Masashi,
Sawada Toru,
Fukuda Susumu,
Suezaki Takashi,
Ichikawa Mitsuru,
Koi Yohei,
Goto Masahiro,
Meguro Tomomi,
Matsuda Takahiro,
Kondo Masataka,
Sasaki Toshiaki,
Tawada Yuko
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.645
Subject(s) - materials science , optoelectronics , solar cell , silicon , microcrystalline , noon , aperture (computer memory) , thin film , crystalline silicon , computer science , optics , nanotechnology , physics , crystallography , chemistry , engineering , mechanical engineering , astronomy
We have developed a new light‐trapping scheme for a thin‐film Si stacked module (Si HYBRID PULS module), where a (a‐Si:H/transparent interlayer/microcrystalline Si) thin‐film was integrated into a large‐area solar cell module. An initial aperture efficiency of 13·1% has been achieved for a 910 × 455 mm Si HYBRID PLUS module, which was independently confirmed by AIST. This is the first report of the independently confirmed efficiency of a large‐area thin‐film Si module with an interlayer. The 19% increase of short‐circuit current of this module was obtained by the introduction of a transparent interlayer that caused internal light‐trapping. A mini‐module was shown to exhibit a stabilized efficiency of 12%. Outdoor performance of a Si HYBRID (a‐Si:H / micro‐crystalline Si stacked) solar cell module has been investigated for over 4 years with two different kinds of module (top and bottom cell limited, respectively). The HYBRID modules limited by the top cell have exhibited a more efficient performance than the modules limited by the bottom cell, in natural sunlight at noon. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.