Application of Silicon Nanostructure Arrays for 6-inch Mono and Multi-Crystalline Solar Cell.

In this study, we fabricate uniform silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays on 6-inch mono- and multi-crystalline wafers by employing the improved solution-processed metal-assisted chemical etching (MacEtch) method. Furthermore, the improved MacEtch can be applied to various crystalline orientation wafers. The SiNW arrays are 470 nm in length with high density; they demonstrate a good optical trapping effect and reflectance well below 6% over a broad wavelength range from 300 to 1100 nm. The improved MacEtch shows no difference in reflectance for a pyramid/SiNW mono-crystalline wafer with appropriate uniformity; the average delta from the center to other positions is within 22%. The effective lifetime is lower for SiNW arrays because the higher surface state causes higher surface recombination.Finally, we make the multi-crystalline wafer into an Al-BSF solar cell device with MacEtch SiNW texture, resulting in an averaged power conversion efficiency of 17.83%, which is higher than that of standard acid-textured solar cell devices. Consequently, the improved MacEtch concept is suitable for commercial mass production in the photovoltaic industry.

Solution-processed carrier selective layers for high efficiency organic/nanostructured-silicon hybrid solar cells.

The reduction of interface minority carrier recombination is regarded as a key performance indicator in improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells. In this study, we chose two kinds of carrier-selective layers to be applied in a hybrid solar cell device. A hole selective transporting layer of N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenylbenzidine (TPD) was added to the interface between Si nanohole structures and PEDOT: PSS, and the electron selective layer cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) was added to the interface between the backside Si wafer and the rear Ti/Ag electrode. The main process used a clean and low-cost solution process, and the annealed temperature was under 140 °C. In addition, after we inserted these two carrier selective layers, the minority carrier lifetime was prolonged from 29.98 µs to 140.81 µs, indicating its significance in reducing the recombination rate. Eventually, we demonstrated that the PCE of Si/organic heterojunction solar cells can be improved to 13.23%.

Hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunction solar cells with 12% efficiency by utilizing flexible film-silicon with a hierarchical surface.

This paper reports an organic-inorganic hybrid solar cell with a hierarchical surface composed of high density silicon nanoholes and micro-desert textures. High-efficiency organic-inorganic hybrid solar cell Si/PEDOT-PSS with a hierarchical surface, showing a power conversion efficiency of 12%. The structure provides excellent light absorption over 97% for the spectral range of 300 to 1100 nm with a thickness of 60 µm due to internal multiple reflections caused by subwavelength features of high density silicon nanoholes and micro-desert textures. In addition, from the angle of incidence (AOI) observed, even at the large angle of 75°, the reflectance value still exhibits less than 1%. With the advantage of very thin silicon material and inexpensive processing, hybrid silicon/polymer solar cells are promising for various applications and thus could be an economically feasible alternative energy solution in the future.

ZnO nanorod arrays for various low-bandgap polymers in inverted organic solar cells.

Due to the limited diffusion length of carriers in polymer solar cells (PSCs), the path of carriers is a crucial factor that determines the device performance. Zinc oxide nanorods (NRs) as the electron transport channel can reduce electron-hole recombination and transport the electron to the electrode efficiently for poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), but have been seldom demonstrated for low-bandgap polymers. Here we successfully applied ZnO NRs, which were grown via the hydrothermal method, as a platform to enhance PSC efficiency for various low-bandgap polymers. In order to assure that the nanorod morphology functioned properly for PSCs, the growth time, the concentration, and the resulting morphology were systematically investigated in depths. Such ZnO NRs were applied to different organic systems, resulting in the increase of the PCE for PBDTTT-C/PC71BM from 4.76% to 6.07% and PBDTTT-C-T/PC71BM from 5.40% to 7.34%. Through those experiments, we established a potentially universal and efficient ZnO NRs platform for various low-bandgap polymers to achieve high efficiency of inverted PSCs.

Ultra-low reflectance, high absorption microcrystalline silicon nanostalagmite.

In this work, microcrystalline silicon nanostalagmite [µc-SiNS] arrays have been successfully fabricated on glass by catalytic etching process through a template. The template, polystyrene [PS] nanospheres, with diameter and density of 30 to approximately 50 nm and 1010/cm2, respectively, was obtained by a modified nanophase separation of PS-containing block copolymer. The length of µc-SiNS could be controlled by the duration of etching time. The µc-SiNS exhibits ultra-low reflection approximately 0.3% and absorption around 99% over 300 to 800 nm in wavelength. Reflection is also suppressed for a wide range of angles of incidence in wide range of wavelength. This indicates the extensive light-trapping effect by the µc-SiNS and could possibly harvest a large amount of solar energy at infrared regime.

Amorphous silicon nanocone array solar cell.

In the hydrogenated amorphous silicon [a-Si:H]-thin film solar cell, large amounts of traps reduce the carrier's lifetime that limit the photovoltaic performance, especially the power conversion efficiency. The nanowire structure is proposed to solve the low efficiency problem. In this work, we propose an amorphous silicon [a-Si]-solar cell with a nanocone array structure were implemented by reactive-ion etching through a polystyrene nanosphere template. The amorphous-Si nanocone exhibits absorption coefficient around 5 × 105/cm which is similar to the planar a-Si:H layer in our study. The nanostructure could provide the efficient carrier collection. Owing to the better carrier collection efficiency, efficiency of a-Si solar cell was increased from 1.43% to 1.77% by adding the nanocone structure which has 24% enhancement. Further passivation of the a-Si:H surface by hydrogen plasma treatment and an additional 10-nm intrinsic-a-Si:H layer, the efficiency could further increase to 2.2%, which is 54% enhanced as compared to the planar solar cell. The input-photon-to-current conversion efficiency spectrum indicates the efficient carrier collection from 300 to 800 nm of incident light.