Realization of colored multicrystalline silicon solar cells with SiO2/SiNx:H double layer antireflection coatings

Abstract

We presented a method to use SiOSiNH double layer antireflection coatings (DARC) on acid textures to fabricate colored multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells. Firstly, we modeled the perceived colors and short-circuit current density (Jsc) as a function of SiNH thickness for single layer SiNH, and as a function of SiOthickness for the case of SiOSiNH (DARC) with fixed SiNH (refractive index n=2.1 at 633 nm, and thickness = 80 nm). The simulation results show that it is possible to achieve various colors by adjusting the thickness of SiOto avoid significant optical losses. Therefore, we carried out the experiments by using electron beam (e-beam) evaporation to deposit a layer of SiOover the standard SiNH for 156×156 mm2 mc-Si solar cells which were fabricated by a conventional process. Semisphere reflectivity over 300 nm to 1100 nm and I-V measurements were performed for grey yellow, purple, deep blue, and green cells. The efficiency of colored SiOSiNH DARC cells is comparable to that of standard SiNH light blue cells, which shows the potential of colored cells in industrial applications. © 2013 Minghua Li et al.