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Analysis of Advanced TiO2/Si based Solar Cell Architecture: Improving PV Parameters and Thermal Stability

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Abstract

In this contribution, Automat FOR Simulation of HETero-structures v2.5 software was used for unveiling the photovoltaic performance and thermal stability of relatively less explored TiO2/c-Si heterojunction solar cell architecture based on 110 μm wafers. Firstly, the dependence of the photovoltaic performance on the emitter layer, i.e. the TiO2 layer, was explored by varying its different characteristics: thickness, carrier concentration and the defect density at the TiO2/Si interface. The study revealed that the power conversion efficiency might be as high as 16.34% (even without any interfacial passivation layer) even when the thickness of the wafer was kept at 110 μm; the thickness and the do** concentration of the TiO2 emitter layer were kept as 7 nm and 1 × 1020 cm−3; respectively. The corresponding defect density at the TiO2/p-Si interface was 1 × 1012 cm−2. Furthermore, a significant gain in the power output was realized by embedding either poly-silicon on oxide or carrier selective contact layer at the rear side of the device architecture. In the case of the incorporation of poly-silicon on the oxide structure at the rear side of the metal/c-Si interface, the role of the ultra-thin tunnel oxide thickness on the device's performance was explored in detail. Next, the poly-silicon on oxide structure was replaced by the NiOx layer, an efficient hole transport layer at the rear side of the device architecture. Various performance-affecting parameters, such as NiOx thickness, NiOx band gap, and the defect density at the NiOx/Si interface, were varied at different carrier concentrations of the NiOx layer to obtain the best possible conditions for realizing the maximum power output. The study was further extended to examine the influence of the wafer lifetime on the device performance of all the simulated solar cells. Eventually, the device temperature was varied from 275 to 375 K with an interval of 25 K to investigate the thermal stability of the proposed cell architectures so that the best possible architecture could be selected for practical fabrication both in terms of photovoltaic performance and thermal stability.

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Acknowledgements

The present work has been carried out in DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub and supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST/TMD/SERI/HUB/2(G), Govt. of India (GoI). One of the authors, Dibyendu Kumar Ghosh is grateful to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India for providing him the fellowship for conducting the research work.

Funding

The present work has been carried out in DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub and supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST/TMD/SERI/HUB/2(G), Govt. of India (GoI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Advanced Materials, Green Energy and Sensor Systems (SAMGESS), Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Howrah, India

    Dibyendu Kumar Ghosh, Shiladitya Acharyya, Gourab Das & Sumita Mukhopadhyay

  2. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Academy of Technology (AOT), Adisaptagram, Hooghly, India

    Shiladitya Acharyya & Sukanta Bose

  3. RCT Solutions GmbH, Konstanz, Germany

    Gourab Das

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Howrah, India

    Anindita Sengupta

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  1. Dibyendu Kumar Ghosh
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Contributions

Dibyendu Kumar Ghosh (Simulation and Analysis,Preparing Manuscript), Shiladitya Acharyya (Analysis), Sukanta Bose (Preparing Manuscript), Gourab Das (Conceptualizing and Proof), Sumita Mukhopadhyay (Supervising), Anindita Sengupta (Supervising). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gourab Das.

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Ghosh, D.K., Acharyya, S., Bose, S. et al. Analysis of Advanced TiO2/Si based Solar Cell Architecture: Improving PV Parameters and Thermal Stability. Silicon (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-024-03063-z

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