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Silica nanospheres as back surface reflectors for crystalline silicon thin‐film solar cells
Author(s) -
Inns Daniel,
Shi Lei,
Aberle Armin G.
Publication year - 2008
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.789
Subject(s) - materials science , silicon , layer (electronics) , silicon dioxide , thin film , aluminium , optoelectronics , quantum efficiency , fabrication , absorption (acoustics) , deposition (geology) , crystalline silicon , reflector (photography) , optics , nanotechnology , composite material , medicine , paleontology , light source , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , sediment , biology
In this paper, fabrication of a non‐continuous silicon dioxide layer from a silica nanosphere solution followed by the deposition of an aluminium film is shown to be a low‐cost, low‐thermal‐budget method of forming a high‐quality back surface reflector (BSR) on crystalline silicon (c‐Si) thin‐film solar cells. The silica nanosphere layer has randomly spaced openings which can be used for metal‐silicon contact areas. Using glass/SiN/p + nn + c‐Si thin‐film solar cells on glass as test vehicle, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) at long wavelengths (>900 nm) is experimentally demonstrated to more than double by the implementation of this BSR, compared to the baseline case of a full‐area Al film as BSR. The improved optical performance of the silica nanosphere/aluminium BSR is due to reduced parasitic absorption in the Al film. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.