TY - GEN
T1 - Influence of TCO type on the performance of amorphous silicon solar cells
AU - Delahoy, Alan E.
AU - Stavrides, Alexander P.
AU - Patel, Anamika M.
AU - Le, Loan T.
AU - Cambridge, John A.
AU - Xu, Yue
AU - Guo, Sheyu
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - We have deposited textured ZnO:Al films over large areas using a reactive-environment hollow cathode sputtering (RE-HCS) system developed in house, and have achieved excellent carrier mobilities (up to 49.5 cm 2/Vs at a carrier concentration of 4.42 x 1020/cm 3). Both the electrical properties and optical properties (total transmission and haze) are superior to those exhibited by commercially available SnO2:F. Using these textured ZnO:Al films, we have achieved an a-Si:H solar cell efficiency boost of 8% relative to commercial SnO 2:F superstrates which resulted from improvements in all three PV parameters, namely Voc, Jsc, and FF. We have also determined the dependence of cell performance on the degree of haze in the ZnO:Al films. Electrical, physical, and optical properties of ZnO:Al and SnO2:F, as determined by four-point probe, Hall effect, SEM, AFM, ICP, transmission (total and diffuse), and work function measurements are presented and correlated to the observed differences in a-Si solar cell performance. We have also developed a refractive index matching layer that, when inserted between the TCO and the a-Si:H layers, resulted in an increase in Jsc of 3%. Finally, we present some experiments on the effect of TCO type on nc-Si:H solar cell performance. From these experiments, we confirmed that SnO2:F by itself is not a suitable TCO for nc-Si:H cells, but found that SnO2:F overcoated with TiO2 followed by ZnO was the most effective superstrate for this type of cell.
AB - We have deposited textured ZnO:Al films over large areas using a reactive-environment hollow cathode sputtering (RE-HCS) system developed in house, and have achieved excellent carrier mobilities (up to 49.5 cm 2/Vs at a carrier concentration of 4.42 x 1020/cm 3). Both the electrical properties and optical properties (total transmission and haze) are superior to those exhibited by commercially available SnO2:F. Using these textured ZnO:Al films, we have achieved an a-Si:H solar cell efficiency boost of 8% relative to commercial SnO 2:F superstrates which resulted from improvements in all three PV parameters, namely Voc, Jsc, and FF. We have also determined the dependence of cell performance on the degree of haze in the ZnO:Al films. Electrical, physical, and optical properties of ZnO:Al and SnO2:F, as determined by four-point probe, Hall effect, SEM, AFM, ICP, transmission (total and diffuse), and work function measurements are presented and correlated to the observed differences in a-Si solar cell performance. We have also developed a refractive index matching layer that, when inserted between the TCO and the a-Si:H layers, resulted in an increase in Jsc of 3%. Finally, we present some experiments on the effect of TCO type on nc-Si:H solar cell performance. From these experiments, we confirmed that SnO2:F by itself is not a suitable TCO for nc-Si:H cells, but found that SnO2:F overcoated with TiO2 followed by ZnO was the most effective superstrate for this type of cell.
KW - Amorphous Si
KW - Carrier mobility
KW - Light trapping
KW - SnO
KW - TCO
KW - Thin-film solar cells
KW - ZnO
KW - a-Si
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=56249116245&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=56249116245&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.796096
DO - 10.1117/12.796096
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:56249116245
SN - 9780819472656
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Photovoltaic Cell and Module Technologies II
T2 - Photovoltaic Cell and Module Technologies II
Y2 - 10 August 2008 through 11 August 2008
ER -