Search results for " Silicon solar cells"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Broadband light trapping in thin film solar cells with self-organized plasmonic nano-colloids
2015
The intense light scattered from metal nanoparticles sustaining surface plasmons makes them attractive for light trapping in photovoltaic applications. However, a strong resonant response from nanoparticle ensembles can only be obtained if the particles have monodisperse physical properties. Presently, the chemical synthesis of colloidal nanoparticles is the method that produces the highest monodispersion in geometry and material quality, with the added benefits of being low-temperature, low-cost, easily scalable and of allowing control of the surface coverage of the deposited particles. In this paper, novel plasmonic back-reflector structures were developed using spherical gold colloids wi…
Light trapping by plasmonic nanoparticles
2020
Abstract Metallic nanoparticles sustaining localized surface plasmon resonances are of great interest for enhancing light trapping in thin film photovoltaics. In this chapter, we explore the correlation between the structural and optical properties of self-assembled silver nanostructures fabricated by a solid-state dewetting process on various substrates relevant for silicon photovoltaics and later integrated into plasmonic back reflectors. Our study allows us to optimize the performance of nanostructures by identifying the fabrication conditions in which desirable circular and uniformly spaced nanoparticles are obtained. Second, we introduce a novel optoelectronic spectroscopic method that…
Broadband photocurrent enhancement in a-Si:H solar cells with plasmonic back reflectors
2014
The authors acknowledge Francesco Ruffino for the AFM measurements. This work was funded by the EU FP7 Marie Curie Action FP7-PEOPLE-2010-ITN through the PROPHET project (Grant No. 264687), the bilateral CNR/AVCR project "Photoresponse of nanostructures for advanced photovoltaic applications", the MIUR project Energetic (Grant no. PON02_00355_3391233) and by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT-MEC) through the Strategic Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013-14 and the research project PTDC/CTM-ENE/2514/2012. Plasmonic light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells is a promising route to achieve high efficiency with reduced volumes of semiconductor material. In this paper, we study the enhance…
Low-cost high-haze films based on ZnO nanorods for light scattering in thin c-Si solar cells
2015
Light scattering from ZnO nanorods (NR) is investigated, modeled, and applied to a solar cell. ZnO NR (120-1300 nm long, 280-60 nm large), grown by low-cost chemical bath deposition at 90 degrees C, exhibit diffused-to-total transmitted light as high as 70% and 30% in the 400 and 1000 nm wavelength range, respectively. Data and scattering simulation show that ZnO NR length plays a crucial role in light diffusion effect. A transparent ZnO NR film grown on glass and placed on top of a 1 mu m thick c-Si solar cell is shown to enhance the light-current conversion efficiency for wavelengths longer than 600 nm. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.