Publication date: 28th August 2024
Solar energy has experienced remarkable growth in the past decades, but innovative PV technologies and architectures must be developed to reduce the cost/watt utilization. Thin-film solar cells with high absorption coefficients and direct band gaps have emerged as promising candidates for achieving high efficiency at low cost. Thin-film solar cells, usually necessitate light-trapping strategies to reduce optical losses at the nanoscale, but similar nanoscale strategies can be used to reduce also the electrical losses. Recombination losses, Shunt, and Series resistances can be controlled by engineering the surface contact areas with appropriate nanopatterning designs. In this work, we explore the effects of reducing the junction area in thin film solar cells by using coupled 3D simulations based on FDTD, Schrodinger-Poisson solver, and Drift diffusion models to predict the performance of different stacks and 3D patterns. As a case study, we focus on Zinc-Phosphide (Zn3P2) as an emerging earth-abundant, p-type absorber material with a direct band gap. Different n-type heterojunction partners such as Indium Phosphide (InP), Silicon (Si), and Titanium Oxide (TiO2) have been explored, and an intermediate Silicon oxide (SiO2) layer with Zn3P2-filled holes in a periodic configuration have been introduced to modulate the n-contact area. The junction area fraction has been varied from 100% (no openings) down to 1.4% for each configuration, showing an overall improvement of the cell performance in efficiency due to a strong increase in the open circuit voltage. The dark JV curves, simulated and modeled with a 2/3Diode model, showed the linear relationship between saturation current and junction area fraction. The reverse saturation current, mainly represented by recombination mechanisms, scales down with the contact area. The beneficial effect of this method has been proved independently by the heterojunction contact leading to an increase of the Voc from 0.07V up to 0.12 V. With this method Zn3P2 based solar cell with a record efficiency of 5.96%[1] can be potentially improved up 12-13% trying different kind of junctions and demonstrating the versatility of this approach.
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