EAPSI: Design of Ultra-thin Nanostructured Silicon Solar Cells: Coupled Optical and Electrical Modeling

超薄硅太阳能电池由于材料成本的降低和更高的性能，是未来几代光伏器件的有希望的候选者。然而，硅的光吸收能力差，需要使用光增强方法。亚利桑那州立大学的太阳能实验室先前开发了一种可重复的、大面积的纳米结构工艺，用于增加薄硅衬底的光吸收。目前需要的是预测理论模型，以指导器件制造过程的发展，从而实验研究纳米结构硅在高效太阳能电池中的适用性。拟议的项目是与Stephen Bremner博士合作，他是澳大利亚悉尼新南威尔士大学（UNSW）第三代硅太阳能电池设计和制造方面的著名专家，创建和优化超薄纳米结构硅太阳能电池的耦合光学和电学模型。该项目将利用经验校准的纳米结构衬底光学模型，使用时域有限差分（FDTD）数值方法来获得衬底中的光产生率。光的产生速率将被输入到基于厚硅太阳能电池的器件模型中，以评估当传统的微纹理方法被纳米纹理方法取代时的光学增益。然后，该项目将分析基于超薄硅太阳能电池的替代太阳能电池设计，其中传统的微纹理不再是可行的选择，因为与衬底厚度相比，其特征尺寸较大。最后，该项目将分析和迭代完善耦合的光学和电学模型，并确定潜在的设计，以便在实验室进行实验验证。NSF EAPSI奖是与澳大利亚科学院合作资助的。NSF EAPSI奖是与澳大利亚科学院合作资助的。

Ultra-thin silicon solar cells are promising candidates for future generations of photovoltaic devices due to decreased material cost and higher performance. However, poor light absorption in silicon necessitates the use of light-enhancement methods. The Solar Power Lab at Arizona State University has previously developed a repeatable, large-area nanostructuring process for increasing light absorption in thin silicon substrates. What is presently needed is predictive theoretical modeling to guide development of a device fabrication process that experimentally investigates the suitability of nanostructured silicon in high-efficiency solar cells. The proposed project is to work with Dr. Stephen Bremner, a noted expert in design and fabrication of third generation silicon solar cells, at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia to create and optimize coupled optical and electrical models of ultra-thin nanostructured silicon solar cells. The project will utilize the empirically calibrated optical models of nanostructured substrates using finite difference time domain (FDTD) numerical methods to obtain the optical generation rate in the substrate. The optical generation rate will then be input into device models based on thick silicon solar cells to evaluate optical gains when conventional microtexturing methods are replaced with nanotexturing. Then, the project will analyze alternative solar cells designs based on ultra-thin silicon solar cells where conventional microtexturing is no longer a viable option due to large feature size compared to the thickness of the substrate. Finally, the project will analyze and iteratively refine the coupled optical and electrical model and identify potential designs for experimental verification in the lab. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science.