Influence of textured interfaces in the performance of a-Si:H double-junction solar cell

Abstract

In this paper different roughness profiles of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) have been simulated to calibrate a thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon double-junction tandem solar cell (a-Si:H/a-Si:H) against the experimental data. The TCO texture was modelled using a periodic triangular profile. The width of the period was kept constant and the height is changed according to the simulated angle α. The optimum roughness for the a-Si:H/a-Si:H solar cell was obtained for α = 26°. For this angle, the current density-voltage (J-V) characteristic has a good agreement with the J-V experimental data. The optimum value of α is close to the characteristics of an Asahi U-type texture used in the manufacturing process for the TCO and it generates the maximum electron density in the intrinsic layers.