Highly transparent modulated surface textured front electrodes for high-efficiency multijunction thin-film silicon solar cells

To further increase the efficiency of multijunction thin-film silicon (TF-Si) solar cells, it is crucial for the front electrode to have a good transparency and conduction, to provide efficient light trapping for each subcell, and to ensure a suitable morphology for the growth of high-quality silicon layers. Here, we present the implementation of highly transparent modulated surface textured (MST) front electrodes as light-trapping structures in multijunction TF-Si solar cells. The MST substrates comprise a micro-textured glass, a thin layer of hydrogenated indium oxide (IOH), and a sub-micron nano-textured ZnO layer grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD ZnO). The bilayer IOH/LPCVD ZnO stack guarantees efficient light in-coupling and light trapping for the top amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cell while minimizing the parasitic absorption losses. The crater-shaped micro-textured glass provides both efficient light trapping in the red and infrared wavelength range and a suitable morphology for the growth of high-quality nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) layers. Thanks to the efficient light trapping for the individual subcells and suitable morphology for the growth of high-quality silicon layers, multijunction solar cells deposited on MST substrates have a higher efficiency than those on single-textured state-of-the-art LPCVD ZnO substrates. Efficiencies of 14.8% (initial) and 12.5% (stable) have been achieved for a-Si:H/nc-Si:H tandem solar cells with the MST front electrode, surpassing efficiencies obtained on state-of-the-art LPCVD ZnO, thereby highlighting the high potential of MST front electrodes for high-efficiency multijunction solar cells. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.