Influence of nanotexturization, nanoparticles and CdTe quantum dots in the power conversion efficiency of solar cells (original) (raw)

2015 Symposium on Design, Test, Integration and Packaging of MEMS/MOEMS (DTIP), 2015

Abstract

The synergistic utilization of nanoparticles of Au, Ag, and Au/Ag alloys, in combination with a photon capture scheme and selected thin films, has enabled the demonstration of photovoltaic structures on single-crystal silicon substrates with an efficiency of 15%. Additionally, hybrid solar cells (i.e organic/inorganic) have also been considered as a viable alternative to develop cost effective photovoltaic devices because the Schottky union between organic and inorganic materials can be formed employing low-temperatures fabrication methods. In this presentation we specifically describe a hybrid solar cell based on an ordered array of silicon nanopillars and the conductive polymer Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The proposed device comprises a thin layer of the aforementioned PEDOT:PSS on an array of silicon nanopillars that was formed utilizing electroless metal-assisted-chemical-etching methods. The performance characteristics of the produced solar cells was analyized in function of the height of said nanopillars. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 9.65% was observed for an optimized height of 400 nm, even without the utilization of antireflecting films on the front surface. The effect of ultrathin films of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) realized employing an atomic layer deposition tool was also included in this study and its utilization further increased the measured efficiency to 10.56%. Finally, with the specific aim of lowering the cost of solar cell manufacturing, additional tests have been carried out on structures with a total thickness of less than 20 μm in which the efficiency was observed to reach 7.7% when used in conjunction with multi-spiked nanoparticles of Au/Ag alloys. The utilization of CdTe quantum dots [1-3] on nanotexturized, relatively thin samples (150 μm) has permitted achieving an efficiency of 15%. Thus, the structures discussed in this presentation are considered promising towards the realization of high efficiency solar cells.

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