In this study, we made the heterojunction solar cells on Si substrate by fabricating a nanocrystalline Si/SiO2 superlattice emitter structure. Amorphous silicon and silicon dioxide superlattice were prepared by rf Si sputtering and plasma oxidation, respectively. The deposited amorphous silicon was crystallized at high temperature. Microstructure studies by TEM show that amorphous silicon was c...

High efficiency Si heterojunction (HJ) solar cells must exhibit low interface recombination, as it limits the cell open circuit voltage (VOC). The study of the interface recombination of various a-Si:H/c-Si lifetime test samples gives insight into the recombination mechanisms, which are found compatible with an amphoteric recombination model [1]. We find that there is a trade-off between reduce...

UNLABELLED The reflectance of the controlled periodic Si nanowire (NW) arrays is systematically explored, which characterizes the influence on the solar energy harnessing ability by the geometries of the NW. A unique dependence of the reflectance of the Si NW array on the diameter, the height, and the bending of the NW are disclosed. The solar energy loss caused by the reflection of the Si NW a...

We report an easily manufacturable and inexpensive transparent conductive electrode for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. It is based on a silver nanoparticle network self-forming in the valleys between the pyramids of a textured solar cell surface, transformed into a nanowire network by sintering, and subsequently "buried" under the silicon surface by a metal-assisted chemical etching. W...

A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) has unique properties that the cell performance does not readily decrease even at higher incident light angles compared with a Si solar cell and dose not decrease or rather increases under low light conditions. Fujikura is developing new applications of DSC by taking advantages of these properties to the field of “Energy Harvesting” where rapid growth of market...

Over the past decade, Si bulk multicrystal has emerged as the substrate material for commercial solar cells. To accelerate the adoption of solar cells to the world, ongoing research targets further reductions in energy costs by improving material performance, while reducing manufacturing costs and raw material costs. We approached this issue from deep understanding of crystal physics of Si mult...

Ion-implanted poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si), in combination with a tunnel oxide layer, is investigated as a carrier-selective passivating contact in c-Si solar cells based on an interdigitated back contact (IBC) architecture. The optimized poly-Si passivating contacts enable low interface recombination, resulting in implied VOC (iVOC) of about 720 mV and 704 mV for n-type and p-type, respe...

The amount of light reflection from the surface is the main obstacle in efficient solar cell performance because reflection is related to the refractive index of the material. For instance, the silicon (Si) refractive index is 3.5, (which can rise by up to 35%), which prevents an electron-hole pair from being generated and could reduce the efficiency of photovoltaic converters. Antireflection c...