Influence of TCO type on the performance of amorphous silicon solar cells

Alan E. Delahoy; Alexander P. Stavrides II; Anamika M. Patel; Loan T. Le; John A. Cambridge; Yue Xu; Sheyu Guo

doi:10.1117/12.796096

10 September 2008 Influence of TCO type on the performance of amorphous silicon solar cells

Alan E. Delahoy, Alexander P. Stavrides II, Anamika M. Patel, Loan T. Le, John A. Cambridge, Yue Xu, Sheyu Guo

Proceedings Volume 7045, Photovoltaic Cell and Module Technologies II; 704506 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.796096
Event: Solar Energy + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

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 cm²/Vs at a carrier concentration of 4.42 x 10²⁰/cm³). 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 SnO₂:F superstrates which resulted from improvements in all three PV parameters, namely V_oc, J_sc, 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 J_sc 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.

Citation Download Citation

Alan E. Delahoy, Alexander P. Stavrides II, Anamika M. Patel, Loan T. Le, John A. Cambridge, Yue Xu, and Sheyu Guo "Influence of TCO type on the performance of amorphous silicon solar cells", Proc. SPIE 7045, Photovoltaic Cell and Module Technologies II, 704506 (10 September 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.796096

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