Title :
A light-trapping solar cell coverglass
Author :
Landis, Geoffrey A.
Author_Institution :
NASA Lewis Res. Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
Abstract :
A novel method of reducing surface reflectivity which eliminates the need to texturize the surface of the cell is presented. A double light pass is achieved by using a light-trapping coverglass which redirects reflected light back to the cell surface by total internal reflection. This technique allows low-reflectance surfaces to be used on planar solar cells, including GaAs and InP/int, with the benefit of increasing the possible short-circuit current (and hence the efficiency) by 6 to 10% with no additional steps added to the cell manufacturing process. The coverglass design also has applications to reduction of grid shadowing and to light trapping within the cell
Keywords :
light reflection; optical films; optical glass; reflectivity; solar cells; GaAs; grid shadowing reduction; light-trapping solar cell coverglass; low-reflectance surfaces; planar solar cells; short-circuit current; surface reflectivity measurement; total internal reflection; Coatings; Geometry; Glass; NASA; Optical reflection; Photovoltaic cells; Reflectivity; Refractive index; Space technology; Surface texture;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1990., Conference Record of the Twenty First IEEE
Conference_Location :
Kissimmee, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1990.111823
