Search

Ultrathin solar cells can be a path forward to low‐cost photovoltaics due to their reduced material consumption and shorter required deposition times. With excellent surface passivation, such devices may feature higher open‐circuit voltages (VOC). However, their short‐circuit current density (JSC) may be reduced due to decreased light absorption. This mandates implementation of efficient light‐trapping structures. To design efficient ultrathin solar cells that combine surface‐passivation and light‐trapping features, accurate 3‐D modeling is necessary. To this end, a novel 3‐D optoelectrical finite‐element model is developed to analyze the performance of ultrathin solar cells. The model is applied to the case of ultrathin (<500 nm) chalcogenide solar cells (copper indium gallium (di) selenide, CIGSe), rear‐passivated with nanostructured Al2O3 to circumvent optical and electrical losses. It is found that such a nanopatterned dielectric passivation scheme enhances broadband light‐trapping with reduced rear‐surface recombination, resulting in an absolute power conversion efficiency enhancement of 3.9%, compared to cells without passivation structure. Overall, the work shows how 3‐D finite element modeling can aid in analyzing and developing new optical and electrical solar cell designs for ultrathin solar cells such as those based on chalcogenides and perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In particular, the 3-D model investigates the light trapping and field passivation in which the negative charges induced on the nanostructured passivation layer repel the minority charge carriers, increasing the solar cell's open-circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency. 3-D Modeling of Ultrathin Solar Cells with Nanostructured Dielectric Passivation: Case Study of Chalcogenide Solar Cells (Adv. B 3-D Modeling of Ultrathin Solar Cells b In article number 2100191, Waseem Raja, Erkan Aydin, Thomas G. Allen, and Stefaan De Wolf develop a novel 3-D optoelectrical finite-element model to analyze the performance of ultrathin solar cells. [Extracted from the article]

Highlights: [•] Polycrystalline CdS thin films are fabricated by means of Close Spaced Sublimation technique. [•] Ag is doped by simple ion-exchange technique in order to reduce resistivity of CdS thin films. [•] Remarkable reduction in resistivity without introducing many transparency losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]