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The present scenario indefinitely needs certain developments in the field of renewable energy as an effective replacement of conventional energy sources. Reflection loss in solar cell is one of the reasons for reduction in power conversion efficiency which can be controlled through antireflective coatings on solar cell surface. This current research focuses on the development of MoSe2 nano-crystalline structure as an effective antireflective material for attaining enhanced light trapping ability. Electrospraying technique was taken into account for the deposition of thin films over the solar cell surface. Transition metal chalcogenide MoSe2 was deposited under argon atmosphere with the coating time of 30–120 min. The impact of thin film MoSe2 coating on solar cell surface was determined through optical, electrical, morphological and thermal studies. The thickness of optimal MoSe2 coating was found to be 761 nm through Atomic Force Microscopy technique. The maximum optical transmittance of 87.6 % was achieved at 90 min of coating (D3) within the spectrum of 300 to 800 nm wavelength. The minimum electrical resistivity of 90 min coated MoSe2 thin film coating over multicrystalline silicon solar cell was measured as 3.93 × 10− 3 Ω-cm. The enhanced power conversion efficiency of MoSe2 coated solar cell under open and closed conditions were found to be 17.13 and 18.67 % especially for D3 solar cell sample, which facilitates maximum transmission of incident photons into the solar cell. From the observed results, it is evident that MoSe2 nanostructure was found to be promising antireflection coating material for multicrystalline silicon solar cell.

Transparent zinc sulfide (ZnS)-aluminium sulfide (Al2S3) composite thin-films are deposited on silicon solar cells through radio frequency (RF) sputtering method at room temperature to investigate the structural, optical, electrical, and thermal characteristics. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals the presence of the powder sample (ZnS-Al2S3) and its average crystallite size is 15.83 nm. The minimum electrical resistivity (ρ), maximum hall mobility (μ), and carrier concentration (N) of ZnS-Al2S3 nano-layer coated solar cells are measured to be 2.98 × 10−3 Ω cm, 14.89 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 24.88 × 1020 cm−3 respectively. For a time period of 25 min, ZnS-Al2S3 nano-layer sputter coating produces the maximum power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 19.38% and 21%, obtained at open and controlled atmospheric conditions, respectively. The influence of operating temperature at both these open and controlled atmospheric conditions for ZnS-Al2S3 nano-layer coated silicon solar cells is observed. The ZnS-Al2S3 composite demonstrates the properties of a desirable anti-reflection coating material for enhancing the PCE of solar cells.