Abstract
Surface wet etching is applied to the ZnO:Ga (GZO) back contact in μc-Si thin film solar cells. GZO transparency increases with increasing deposition substrate temperature. Texturing enhances reflective scattering, with etching around 56 s producing the best scattering, whereas etching around 5 s produces the best fabricated solar cells. Etching beyond these times produces suboptimal performance related to excessive erosion of the GZO. The best μc-Si solar cell achieves FF=68%, VOC=471 mV and JSC=21.48 mA/cm 2 (η=6.88%). Improvement is attributed to enhanced texture-induced scattering of light reflected back into the solar cell, increasing the efficiency of our lab-made single μc-Si solar cells from 6.54% to 6.88%. Improved external quantum efficiency is seen primarily in the longer wavelengths, i.e. 6001100 nm. However, variation of the fabrication conditions offers opportunity for significant tuning of the optical absorption spectrum.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1583-1586 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells |
Volume | 95 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 Jul |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films