Enhanced Conversion Efficiency for Solar Cells With Periodic Grating of Nanowires

Author

Ya Han Ye ; Chun-Chieh Chin ; Ding-Wei Huang

Author_Institution

Inst. of Photonics & Optoelectron., Nat. Taiwan Univ., Taipei, Taiwan

Volume

5

Issue

5

fYear

2013

fDate

Oct. 2013

Firstpage

8400709

Lastpage

8400709

Abstract

The absorption of an amorphous silicon thin film with periodic gratings formed by an array of nanowires with varied heights and different profile shapes is studied. Optimized parameters, including period, duty ratio, and the angle of unit cell and the shape of the profile, namely, tented, triangular, and concave type, are used to achieve the optimal results of light absorption and conversion efficiency. The enhancement of conversion efficiency occurs both in TE and TM polarizations. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency of the solar cell with triangular profile can be increased by 58.21%, 42.45%, and 20.38%, compared with those with flat surface, equal-thickness nanowires, and periodic triangular textures, respectively.

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors; elemental semiconductors; infrared spectra; light absorption; nanowires; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; ultraviolet spectra; visible spectra; Si; TE polarizations; TM polarizations; amorphous silicon thin film; concave profile; duty ratio; equal-thickness nanowires; flat surface; light absorption; nanowires; periodic grating; periodic triangular textures; photovoltaic conversion efficiency; solar cells; tented profile; triangular profile; unit cell angle; Absorption; Gratings; Materials; Nanowires; Optical reflection; Photovoltaic cells; Refractive index; Photovoltaic; nanostructures; nanowires; subwavelength structures;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Journal, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1943-0655

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOT.2013.2272775

Filename

6576892