Nanostructured silicon oxide film for enhanced crystalline solar cell

Author

Tahhana, Abdulla ; Dehouchea, Zahir ; Ansonb, Tony ; Fernc, George

Author_Institution

Sch. of Eng. & Design, Brunel Univ., Uxbridge, UK

fYear

2014

fDate

8-13 June 2014

Firstpage

1296

Lastpage

1298

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the potential use of silicon oxide layer as one possible way to increase the silicon solar efficiency at low cost. The layer is fabricated on top of commercially available monocrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells by low temperature Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) using Tetramythyle-Silane (TMS), (C₄H₁₂Si) precursor and oxidized by means of potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) agent. This study compares the electrical and optical characteristics of monocrystalline silicon cells before and after coating. The PV cells surface chemical composition was analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Reflectance and transmittance analysis results are also presented. The experimental results show a relative enhancement of about 10% (from 12.14% to 13.34%) in the monocrystalline cell electrical efficiency conversion.

Keywords

carbon compounds; hydrogen compounds; low-temperature techniques; manganese compounds; nanostructured materials; plasma CVD; potassium compounds; reflectivity; scanning electron microscopy; solar cells; C₄H₁₂Si; KMnO₄; PV cells; SEM; SiO; TMS; crystalline solar cell enhancement; electrical characteristics; electrical efficiency conversion; low temperature PECVD; monocrystalline solar cells; nanostructured film; optical characteristics; plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition; precursor; reflectance analysis; relative enhancement; scanning electron microscopy; solar efficiency; surface chemical composition; tetramythyle-silane; transmittance analysis; Artificial intelligence; Capacitance; Coatings; Frequency conversion; Indexes; Monitoring; Weight measurement; PECVD; monocrystalline solar cell; nanoparticles; silicon oxide;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925154

Filename

6925154