Pyramid texturing on silicon solar cells traps light more efficiently
Pyramid texturing on silicon solar cells traps light more efficiently lead image
Texturing silicon solar cells helps improve their light absorption and reduces reflection. By texturing solar cells, the path length of light through the cells is increased and the light is trapped more efficiently.
Manzoor et al. studied the texture of monocrystalline silicon solar cells to assess how well it performs and how it might enhance light trapping. They examined a specific pyramid texture which results when an alkaline solution etches the surface of the cell.
Prior research simulated the performance of a similar texture ideal-random pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures on silicon solar wafers that are truly random in terms of height and position, but have an unrealistic consistent base angle. The authors compared these ideal-random pyramids with what they term “real-random pyramids,” which have a realistic distribution of base angles.
“Previously, random pyramids have been thought to have sub-par light trapping performance in comparison to completely randomizing textures,” said author Salman Manzoor. “But we showed that this was due to a simplification of the random pyramidal texture that was assumed in those reports.”
The authors probed the light-trapping efficiency of ideal-random pyramids and real-random pyramids by ray tracing a three-dimensional topographical map of the surface of the textured silicon wafer using atomic force microscopy.
“Real-random pyramids perform better at trapping weakly absorbed light than ideal-random pyramids due to their distribution of base angles,” Manzoor said. “This helps in randomizing the light rays inside the cell, which reduces the escape reflectance.”
The authors explained that this research can also be applied to other texture types and solar cells.
Source: “Visualizing light trapping within textured silicon solar cells,” by Salman Manzoor, Miha Filipič, Arthur Onno, Marko Topič, and Zachary Charles Holman, Journal of Applied Physics (2020). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5131173 .
