Numerical Simulation and Optimization of the Performances of a Solar Cell (p-i-n) Containing Amorphous Silicon Using AMP
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Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials https://doi.org/10.1007/s42341-020-00262-4
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Numerical Simulation and Optimization of the Performances of a Solar Cell (p-i-n) Containing Amorphous Silicon Using AMPS-1D Leila Bechane1 · Nadir Bouarissa1 · Kamel Loucif2 Received: 7 March 2020 / Revised: 10 October 2020 / Accepted: 4 November 2020 © The Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers 2020
Abstract A solar cell of p-i-n type, containing hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is simulated using the unidimensional computer code AMPS-1D. The objective of the present contribution is to investigate the effect of the thickness of the active layer a-Si:H(i) and the variation of its density of states (DOS) on the performances of the solar cell, namely the current of short circuit (JSC), the tension of open circuit (VOC), the form factor (FF) and the efficiency (Eff). Also we aim to determine the structural parameters characterizing each layer constituting the cell. Our results show that the best thickness for the active layer that gives good performances of the studied solar cell lies between 300 and 600 nm. Besides, the best DOS that provides better output parameters of the solar cell is determined to be in the range 5.1015–1016 cm−3. After optimization, our findings give values of Voc = 1.193 V, Jsc = 13.145 mA cm−2, FF = 0.807 which corresponds to an efficiency of E ff = 12.655%. The optimization has been done as a function of temperature and wavelength. Keywords AMPS-1D · a-Si:H solar cells · Single junction · Active layer · Efficiency
1 Introduction The thin layer semiconductors, in particular hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) are of very particular interest for the photovoltaic applications. This is due to their lower cost of production in comparison with more traditional technologies containing bulk crystalline silicon. Moreover, hydrogenated amorphous silicon has many advantages compared to crystalline silicon [1–5]. These advantages consist in the energy band gap which is direct and adjustable and the possibility of deposit capacity at low temperatures. In fact, the energy band gap of a-Si:H can be adjusted from 1.65 to 1.88 eV [6] giving thus a high absorption coefficient (>105 cm−1). In this case, the absorbent layer does not require more than few micrometers for absorbing 90% of the solar spectrum.
* Nadir Bouarissa [email protected] 1
Laboratory of Materials Physics and Its Applications, University of M’sila, 28000 M’sila, Algeria
Laboratoire des Matériaux non Métalliques, Département d’optique et Mécanique de Précision, Université Ferhat Abbas Sétif, 19000 Sétif, Algeria
2
Amorphous silicon is a semiconductor that possess excellent optical properties, but weak electronic properties. This leads to weak efficiencies in the industry. The maximum efficiency of the solar cells containing a-Si:H, for significant sizes, remains limited. This is because amorphous silicon suffers from the ageing effect when exposed to light which is related to
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