A Review and Comparison of One- and Two-Dimensional Simulations of Solar Cells Featuring Selective Emitters

The optimization of the metallization pattern and the emitter doping profiles and geometry for selective emitter solar cells require reliable and fast simulation models. The computational effort of one-dimensional models is usually much lower than that of two-dimensional models, which in turn allow for more realistic calculations. We review the literature on one-dimensional and two-dimensional models for the simulation of selective emitter solar cells. We compare the approaches for various emitter profiles and widths of the highly doped areas. We show that the one-dimensional and the two-dimensional approaches show similar trends and only small deviations concerning the short-circuit current density and the open-circuit voltage. Concerning the fill factor and the efficiency, the agreement is still reasonable for the investigated selective emitter structures. However, the one-dimensional approach leads to a more profound understanding and a more realistic simulation of the fill factor.