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Tuning of the open‐circuit voltage by wide band‐gap absorber and doped layers in thin film silicon solar cells
Author(s) -
Wang Shuo,
Smirnov Vladimir,
Chen Tao,
Zhang Xiaodan,
Xiong Shaozhen,
Zhao Ying,
Finger Friedhelm
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201510148
Subject(s) - open circuit voltage , band gap , silicon , materials science , optoelectronics , doping , voltage , thin film , layer (electronics) , solar cell , range (aeronautics) , theory of solar cells , electrical engineering , solar cell efficiency , nanotechnology , composite material , engineering
We present an experimental study combined with computer simulations on the effects of wide band‐gap absorber and window layers on the open‐circuit voltage ( V oc ) in single junction thin film silicon solar cells. The quantity Δ E p , taking as the difference between the band gap and the activation energy in ⟨p⟩ layer, is treated as a measure of the p‐layer properties and shows a linear relation with V oc over a range of 100 mV with a positive slope of around 430 mV/eV. Two limiting mechanisms of V oc are identified: the built‐in potential at lower Δ E p and the band gap of the absorber layer at higher Δ E p . The results of the experimental findings are confirmed by computer simulations. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)