Griddler: Intelligent computer aided design of complex solar cell metallization patterns

Solar cell designs with complex metallization geometries such as metal wrap through (MWT), interdigitated-back-contact (IBC) cells, and metal grids with non-ideal features like finger breaks, finger striations and non-uniform contact resistance, are not amenable to simple series resistance (R_s) analysis based on small unit cells. In order to accurately simulate these cells, we developed a program that captures the cell metallization geometry from rastered images/CAD files, and efficiently meshes the cell plane for finite element analysis, yielding standard data such as the I-V curve, voltage and R_s distribution. The program also features a powerful post processor that predicts the rate of change in efficiency with respect to incremental changes in the metallization pattern, opening up the possibility of intelligent computer aided design procedures.