Title :
Protocrystalline silicon solar cells on transparent plastic substrates
Author :
Fathi, Ehsanollah ; Sazonov, Andrei
Author_Institution :
Electr. & Comput. Eng. Dept., Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Abstract :
Here, we have investigated fabrication of thin film silicon p-i-n solar cells at low substrate temperatures. The effect of silane diluted by hydrogen, in i-layer deposition process on the solar cell characteristics has been studied. Our results show that the material right at the phase transition from amorphous to microcrystalline shows a combination of the highest open circuit voltage and short circuit current. Using this material p-i-n solar cell fabricated on both glass and plastic substrates and the efficiencies of 4.7% and 3.99% have been obtained respectively.
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; phase transformations; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; Si; amorphous silicon; glass substrate; hydrogen; i-layer deposition process; open circuit voltage; phase transition; protocrystalline silicon solar cells; short circuit current; substrate temperatures; thin film silicon p-i-n solar cells; transparent plastic substrates; Amorphous materials; Fabrication; Hydrogen; PIN photodiodes; Photovoltaic cells; Plastic films; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon; Substrates; Temperature;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2009 34th IEEE
Conference_Location :
Philadelphia, PA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2949-3
Electronic_ISBN :
0160-8371
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411478