EFFECTS OF DOUBLE LAYER ANTI-REFLECTION COATING ON OPTICAL PROPERTIES AND ELECTRICAL FACTORS OF BLACK SOLAR CELLS

Warakorn  Limsiri; Thipwan  Fungsuwannarak; Kamonchanok  Mekmork; Supanut  Laohawiroj; Nikhil  Jaden Naidoo; Peerawoot  Rattanawichai

Authors

Warakorn Limsiri School of Electrical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand.
Thipwan Fungsuwannarak School of Electrical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand.
Kamonchanok Mekmork School of Electrical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand.
Supanut Laohawiroj School of Electrical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand.
Nikhil Jaden Naidoo School of Electrical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand.
Peerawoot Rattanawichai School of Electrical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand.

Keywords:

Blue solar cell, black solar cell, OPAL-2 Simulation, antireflection coating, gradient- index

Abstract

Solar cell coated with an anti-reflection coating (ARC) is essential for quantum efficiency improvement and light-absorbing increase. The advantage of a double layer anti-reflection coating (DLARC) to form a black solar cell with gradient index results in effective anti-reflectance. In this simulation work, the OPAL-2 simulatio predicts the minimizing optical losses of various ratio thickness of DLARC layer (silicon oxynitride (SiNxOy) and silicon nitride (SiNx). It was found the optimal SiNxOy: SiNx ratio thickness of 0.5:0.5 to enhance the photogenerated current with a weighted reflectance (between 400 and 700 nm) around 2.03 %. In this experimental work, PV cells with SiNxOy/SiNx DLARC were fabrication in the mass-scale production by varying the total thickness of DLARC layer (83-176 nm) under the optimal DLARC ratio thickness. The DLARC layer was deposited by a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique to produce the refractive index of SiNxOy and SiNx, of 1.74 and of 2.04, respectively. In the solar cell production process, short-circuit current values of all-black solar cells are increased by 4.17% as compared with a blue solar cell under the same firing-electrode condition. However, it was found that the decreased fill factor values of all-black solar cells in this condition are associated with more DLARC thickness, which also causes poor electrode quality such as high series-parasitic resistance. In this work, DLARC thickness of 143 nm obtains a power conversion efficiency of 18.24%, with a gain improvement of 0.53%, compared to blue PV cells coated by a single SiNx layer with 83 nm thickness.

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