Micromorph Silicon Solar Cell Research and Development at NEXT ENERGY

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 3032-3035
In this paper the activities of the photovoltaics group at the EWE research centre – NEXT ENERGY is described. The focus of the work lies on thin film silicon solar cells. A baseline process has been implemented allowing the deposition of state-of-the-art micromorph tandem solar cells. This is done with the goal to substantionally increase the efficiency of this kind of cells in the future and to build up the base for new concepts like triple junction solar cells. Detailed simulations were performed to get physical insight into the fundamental mechanisms in the solar cell and to extract further potential of efficiency enhancement. 3-dimensional optical simulations of structures with realistic topography will be presented. First experiments with ps-laser scribing have been performed for TCO and a-Si:H ablation At the end an outlook about the triple junction activities will be given.