Simulation study of solar energy conversion for hybrid microgenerator cell

Abstract

A hybrid solar - PZT microgenerator is designed using an n-doped single crystal p-type <100> silicon membrane as the solar cell and PZT layer deposited on the backside of the membrane as the mechanical energy harvester. The cell utilized a 40 µm thick membrane with an aluminum fin attached on its surface as the harvester for mechanical energies wind and raindrop. The solar cell has a dimension of 15 mm × 15 mm. Simulation was done using ATLAS software from SILVACO to obtain VOC, ISC, maximum power, and other characteristics for the solar cell. VOC and JSC of the cell are 0.41V and 1.363 µA/µm respectively. Under AM 1.5 condition, the maximum power density for the cell is 0.01913 W/cm2 and the efficiency is 19.13%. Simulation results suggest that the solar cell could be feasibly integrated into the hybrid microgenerator cell.