Shen Hui

A new improved structure of dye-sensitized solar cells with reflection film

A new improved structure of dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells (DSSC) for utilizing reflected light was introduced in this paper. Typical DSSC is based on a sandwich structure, which consists of photoanode, electrolyte and cathode. For the improved structure of DSSC in this paper, a sliver reflection film was attached to the back of transparent conducting glass of cathode. In this way, the residual light passing through photoanode was reflected to it to be used again. The photocurrent-voltage characteristics of DSSC fabricated by two different thickness of TiO2 film were measured to illustrate the effects of utilizing reflected light. As a result, the improved DSSC with reflection film exhibited higher photocurrent and solar-to-electric conversion efficiency than DSSC without reflection film.

Study on device simulation and performance optimization of the epitaxial crystalline silicon thin film solar cell

Because crystalline silicon thin film (CSiTF) solar cells possess the advantages of crystalline silicon solar cells such as high efficiency and stable performance and those of thin film solar cells such as low cost and so on, it is regarded as the next generation solar cell technology, which is most likely to replace the existing crystalline silicon solar cell technology. In this paper, we performed device simulation on the epitaxial CSiTF solar cell by using PC1D software. In order to make simulation results closer to the actual situation, we adopted a more realistic device structure and parameters. On this basis, we comprehensively and systematically investigated the effect of physical parameters of back surface field (BSF) layer, base and emitter, electrical quality of crystalline silicon active layer, situation of surface passivation, internal recombination and p-n junction leakage on the optoelectronic performance of the epitaxial CSiTF solar cell. Among various factors affecting the efficiency of the epitaxial CSiTF solar cell, we identified the three largest efficiency-affecting parameters. They are the base minority carrier diffusion length, the diode dark saturation current and the front surface recombination velocity in order. Through simulations, we found that the base is not the thicker the better, and the base minority carrier diffusion length must be taken into account when determining the optimal base thickness. When the base minority carrier diffusion length is smaller, the optimal base thickness should be less than or equal to the base minority carrier diffusion length; when the base minority carrier diffusion length is larger, the base minority carrier diffusion length should be at least twice the optimal base thickness. In addition, this paper not only illustrates the simulation results but also explains their changes from the aspect of physical mechanisms. Because epitaxial CSiTF solar cells possess a device structure that is similar to crystalline silicon solar cells, the conclusions drawn in this paper are also applied to crystalline silicon solar cells to a certain extent, particularly to thin silicon solar cells which are the hottest research topic at present.

QE and Suns-V oc study on the epitaxial CSiTF solar cells

In order to clarify the major factors having confined the efficiencies of as-prepared crystalline silicon thin film (CSiTF) solar cells on the SSP (silicon sheets from powder) ribbons, QE (quantum efficiency) and Suns-Voc study were performed on the epitaxial CSiTF solar cells fabricated on the SSP ribbons, the SSP ribbons after surface being zone melting recrystallized (ZMR) and single crystalline silicon (sc-Si) substrates. The results show that the epi-layers deposited on the SSP ribbons have rough surfaces, which not only increases the diffusion reflectance on the surfaces but also makes the anti-reflection coatings become structure-loosened, both of which would deteriorate the light trapping effect; in addition, the epi-layers deposited on the SSP ribbons possess poor crystallographic quality, so the heavy grain boundary (GB) recombination limits the diffusion length of the minority carriers in the epi-layers, which makes the as-prepared CSiTF solar cells suffer the worse spectra response at long-wavelength range. Nearly all the dark characteristic parameters of the CSiTF solar cells are far away from the ideal values. The performances of the CSiTF solar cells are especially affected by too high I02 (the dark saturation current of space charge region) values and too low Rsh (parallel resistance) values. The higher I02 values are mainly caused by the heavy GB recombination resulting from the poor crystallographic qualities of the silicon active layers in the space charge regions, while the lower Rsh values are attributed to the electrical leakage at the un-passivated PN junction or solar cell edges after the solar cells are cut by the laser scriber.

Investigation of shunt solar cells’ currents based on equivalent circuit model

In view of the universality of the parallel connection of solar cells and their mismatch problem, in the present paper, we select two shunt solar cells (connected in parallel) as our research object, and use the equivalent one-diode circuit of the solar cell and the analysis of the two-body model. At first, the equations of current and voltage are deduced from the related electrical laws and the circuit diagram of the two solar cells connected in parallel. Then, according to the experimentally measured data of typical single-crystalline silicon solar cells (125 mm×125 mm), we select the appropriate simulation parameters. Following this, by using the photo-generated current, the shunt resistance, and the serial resistance of one of the shunt solar cells and the load resistance as independent variables, in turn, the changing characteristics of each branch current in the two shunt solar cells are numerically discussed and analyzed for these four cases for the first time. At the same time, we provide a simple physical explanation for the modeling results. Our analyses show that these parameters have different impacts on the internal currents of solar cells connected in parallel. These results provide a reference to solve the problem of connecting solar cells and to develop higher efficiency solar cells and systems. Meanwhile, the results will contribute to a better comprehension of the reasons for efficiency loss of solar cells and systems, and deepen the understanding of the electrical of solar cells behavior for high performance photovoltaic applications.

Analysis of each branch current of serial solar cells by using an equivalent circuit model

In this paper, based on the equivalent single diode circuit model of the solar cell, an equivalent circuit diagram for two serial solar cells is drawn. Its equations of current and voltage are derived from Kirchhoffs current and voltage law. First, parameters are obtained from the I—V (current—voltage) curves for typical monocrystalline silicon solar cells (125 mm × 125 mm). Then, by regarding photo-generated current, shunt resistance, serial resistance of the first solar cell, and resistance load as the variables. The properties of shunt currents (Ish1 and Ish2), diode currents (ID1 and ID2), and load current (IL) for the whole two serial solar cells are numerically analyzed in these four cases for the first time, and the corresponding physical explanations are made. We find that these parameters have different influences on the internal currents of solar cells. Our results will provide a reference for developing higher efficiency solar cell module and contribute to the better understanding of the reason of efficiency loss of solar cell module.

Thermal Field Analysis and Simulation of an Infrared Belt Furnace Used for Solar Cells

During solar cell firing, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and a small number of metal particles were removed using the gas flow. When the gas flow was disturbed by the thermal field of infrared belt furnace and structure, the metal particles in the discharging gas flow randomly adhered to the surface of solar cell, possibly causing contamination. Meanwhile, the gas flow also affected the thermal uniformity of the solar cell. In this paper, the heating mechanism of the solar cell caused by radiation, convection, and conduction during firing was analyzed. Afterward, four 2-dimensional (2D) models of the furnace were proposed. The transient thermal fields with different gas inlets, outlets, and internal structures were simulated. The thermal fields and the temperature of the solar cell could remain stable and uniform when the gas outlets were installed at the ends and in the middle of the furnace, with the gas inlets being distributed evenly. To verify the results, we produced four types of furnaces according to the four simulated results. The experimental results indicated that the thermal distribution of the furnace and the characteristics of the solar cells were consistent with the simulation. These experiments improved the efficiency of the solar cells while optimizing the solar cell manufacturing equipment.

Selected area laser-crystallized polycrystalline silicon thin films by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with 355 nm wavelength

Selected area laser-crystallized polycrystalline silicon (p-Si) thin films were prepared by the third har- monics (355 nm wavelength) generated by a solid-state pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Surface morphologies of 400 nm thick films after laser irradiation were analyzed. Raman spectra show that film crystallinity is improved with in- crease of laser energy. The optimum laser energy density is sensitive to the film thickness. The laser energy density for efficiently crystallizing amorphous silicon films is between 440-634 mJ/cm 2 for 300 nm thick films and be- tween 777-993 mJ/cm 2 for 400 nm thick films. The optimized laser energy density is 634, 975 and 1571 mJ/cm 2 for 300, 400 and 500 nm thick films, respectively.