Method for evaluation of antireflection coatings

Amorphous carbon nitride dual-function anti-reflection coating for crystalline silicon solar cells

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have dominated the photovoltaic industry for decades. However, due to high reflectivity and the presence of numerous types of surface contaminants, the solar cell only absorbs a limited amount of the incident solar radiation. To improve the efficiency of the solar cell, anti-reflection and self-cleaning coatings must be applied to the surface. The main objective of this work is to synthesize an amorphous carbon nitride CNx thin film as a novel dual-function anti-reflection coating (ARC) for c-Si solar cells. The CNx film was synthesized by the RF magnetron sputtering technique and characterized by different chemical, structural, and optical analysis techniques. The performance of CNx film was investigated via measuring the reflectance, photoelectric conversion efficiency, and external quantum efficiency. The minimum reflectance was 0.3% at 550 nm wavelength, and the external quantum efficiency achieved was more than 90% within the broad wavelength range. The open circuit voltage and short circuit current density that have been achieved are 578 mV and 33.85 mAcm⁻², respectively. Finally, a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 13.05% was achieved with the coated c-Si solar cell in comparison with 5.52% for the uncoated c-Si solar cell. This study shows that CNx films have promising application potential as an efficient ARC for c-Si solar cells as compared to traditional ARC materials.

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells Integrated with Subwavelength Structured Cover Glass Fabricated by One-Step Self-Masked Etching

We report an anti-reflective cover glass for Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) thin film solar cells. Subwavelength structures (SWSs) were fabricated on top of a cover glass using one-step self-masked etching. The etching method resulted in dense whiskers with high aspect ratio. The produced structure exhibited excellent anti-reflective properties over a broad wavelength range, from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. Compared to a flat-surface glass, the average transmittance of the glass integrated with the SWSs improved from 92.4% to 95.2%. When the cover glass integrated with the SWSs was mounted onto the top of a CIGS device, the short-circuit current and the efficiency of the solar cell were enhanced by 4.38 and 6%, respectively, compared with a CIGS solar cell without cover glass.

Biomimetic artificial Si compound eye surface structures with broadband and wide-angle antireflection properties for Si-based optoelectronic applications

We report the biomimetic artificial silicon (Si) compound eye structures for broadband and wide-angle antireflection by integrating nanostructures (NSs) into periodically patterned microstructures (p-MSs) via thermal dewetting of gold and subsequent dry etching. The truncated cone microstructures with a two-dimensional hexagonal symmetry pattern were fabricated by photolithography and dry etching processes. The desirable shape and density of the nanostructures were obtained by controlled dewetting. The incorporation of p-MSs into the NS/Si surface further reduced the surface total reflectance over a wide wavelength range of 300-1030 nm at near normal incidence, indicating the average reflectance (Ravg) and solar weighted reflectance (RSWR) values of ~ 2.5% and 2%, respectively, compared to the only NSs on the flat Si surface (i.e., Ravg ~ 4.9% and RSWR ~ 4.5%). Additionally, the resulting structure improved the angle-dependent antireflection property due to its relatively omnidirectional shape, which exhibited the Ravg < 4.3% and RSWR < 3.7% in the wavelength region of 300-1100 nm even at a high incident light angle of 70° in the specular reflectance.

Antireflective coatings for multijunction solar cells under wide-angle ray bundles

Two important aspects must be considered when optimizing antireflection coatings (ARCs) for multijunction solar cells to be used in concentrators: the angular light distribution over the cell created by the particular concentration system and the wide spectral bandwidth the solar cell is sensitive to. In this article, a numerical optimization procedure and its results are presented. The potential efficiency enhancement by means of ARC optimization is calculated for several concentrating PV systems. In addition, two methods for ARCs direct characterization are presented. The results of these show that real ARCs slightly underperform theoretical predictions.

Broadband antireflective germanium surfaces based on subwavelength structures for photovoltaic cell applications

We fabricated the germanium (Ge) subwavelength structures (SWSs) using gold (Au) metallic nanopatterns dewetted by rapid thermal annealing and inductively coupled plasma etching in SiCl(4) plasma for Ge-based photovoltaic cells. Using the optimized Au nanopatterns as an etch mask, the Ge SWSs were formed by varying the etching parameters to achieve the better antireflection properties. The reflectance of Ge SWSs depended strongly on their period, height, and shape which are closely related to the refractive index profile between air and the Ge substrate. The tapered cone Ge SWSs reduced considerably the reflectance compared to the samples with a truncated cone shape as well as the Ge substrate due to the linearly graded refractive index distribution from air to the Ge substrate. The Ge SWS with the tapered cone shape and high height exhibited a dramatic decrease in the reflectance (i.e., <10%) over a wide wavelength region of 350-1800 nm, thus leading to a low solar weighted reflectance of ~3.6%. The reflectance was also lower than ~8.8% at a wavelength of 633 nm in the incident angle range of 15-85°. The measured reflectance data of Ge SWSs showed similar trends to the calculated results in a rigorous coupled wave analysis simulation.