Simulation of silicon solar cells with atomic layer deposited Al2O3 as passivation layers

Abstract

With the depletion of traditional fossil fuels, the application of renewable energies, such as solar energy, becomes more important. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al2O3 can be used as passivation layers in p-type and n-type silicon solar cells, which can increase the lifetime of minority carriers and reduce the surface recombination velocity. Field- effect and chemical passivation are two effects in ALD Al2O3 on silicon surface. In this article, we use PC1D to simulate the silicon solar cells with the application of ALD Al2O3. In the p- type silicon solar cell, ALD Al2O3 is applied at the back surface, and the conversion efficiency is increased from 17.5% to 20.3% The simulation result indicates that the field-effect passivation is more important. In the n-type silicon solar cell, ALD Al2O3 is applied on the p-type emitter at the front surface, and chemical passivation may play more important roles.