Enhanced conversion efficiency of a crystalline silicon solar cell with frustum nanorod arrays

Abstract

Enhanced photoelectric conversion is demonstrated in a crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell with frustum nanorod arrays (FNAs), fabricated using colloidal lithography and reactive-ion etching techniques. Under a simulated one-sun condition, the cell with FNAs improves the power conversion efficiency by nearly 30%, compared to a conventional wet-chemical-textured reference. The enhancement mostly arises from the superior antireflective properties for wavelengths between 400 nm and 1000 nm. In that spectral range, we show that photons gained by reflection reduction directly contribute to collected carriers without auxiliary losses due to nano-fabrication. Moreover, the omnidirectional antireflection of FNAs is also investigated using an angle-resolved reflectance spectroscopy. The dimensions of FNAs are further analyzed with numerical calculations based on Maxwell's equations. The optimized short-circuit current density achieves nearly 40 mA/cm(2), corresponding to a 16% enhancement compared to the conventional device. (C)2010 Optical Society of America