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Study on device simulation and performance optimization of the epitaxial crystalline silicon thin film solar cell

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Abstract

Because crystalline silicon thin film (CSiTF) solar cells possess the advantages of crystalline silicon solar cells such as high efficiency and stable performance and those of thin film solar cells such as low cost and so on, it is regarded as the next generation solar cell technology, which is most likely to replace the existing crystalline silicon solar cell technology. In this paper, we performed device simulation on the epitaxial CSiTF solar cell by using PC1D software. In order to make simulation results closer to the actual situation, we adopted a more realistic device structure and parameters. On this basis, we comprehensively and systematically investigated the effect of physical parameters of back surface field (BSF) layer, base and emitter, electrical quality of crystalline silicon active layer, situation of surface passivation, internal recombination and p-n junction leakage on the optoelectronic performance of the epitaxial CSiTF solar cell. Among various factors affecting the efficiency of the epitaxial CSiTF solar cell, we identified the three largest efficiency-affecting parameters. They are the base minority carrier diffusion length, the diode dark saturation current and the front surface recombination velocity in order. Through simulations, we found that the base is not the thicker the better, and the base minority carrier diffusion length must be taken into account when determining the optimal base thickness. When the base minority carrier diffusion length is smaller, the optimal base thickness should be less than or equal to the base minority carrier diffusion length; when the base minority carrier diffusion length is larger, the base minority carrier diffusion length should be at least twice the optimal base thickness. In addition, this paper not only illustrates the simulation results but also explains their changes from the aspect of physical mechanisms. Because epitaxial CSiTF solar cells possess a device structure that is similar to crystalline silicon solar cells, the conclusions drawn in this paper are also applied to crystalline silicon solar cells to a certain extent, particularly to thin silicon solar cells which are the hottest research topic at present.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Technologies, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Bin Ai, YongHui Zhang, YouJun Deng & Hui Shen

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  1. Bin Ai
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  2. YongHui Zhang
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  3. YouJun Deng
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  4. Hui Shen
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Correspondence to Bin Ai.

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Ai, B., Zhang, Y., Deng, Y. et al. Study on device simulation and performance optimization of the epitaxial crystalline silicon thin film solar cell. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 55, 3187–3199 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-5004-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-5004-5

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