Promotion of amorphous silicon solar cells

What are the advantages of amorphous silicon based solar cells?

One of the advantages of amorphous silicon–based solar cells is that they absorb sunlight very efficiently: the total thickness of the absorbing layers in amorphous silicon solar cells is less than 1 μm. Consequently, these layers need to be supported on a much thicker substrate.

How efficient are amorphous solar cells?

The overall efficiency of this new type of solar cell was 7.1–7.9% (under simulated solar light), which is comparable to that of amorphous silicon solar cells .

Why are amorphous Sili-Con based pin solar cells more efficient?

It is worth noting that these = conditions also apply to photoconductivity measurements that are made on isolated films of a particular material. The asymmetry in the drift of electrons and holes explains why amorphous sili-con–based pin solar cells are more efficient when illuminated through their p-layers.

Why do amorphous silicon based solar cells behave under illumination?

All amorphous silicon–based solar cells exhibit this type of initial behavior under illumination; the behavior is mostly due to the “Staebler–Wronski” effect , which is the light-induced change in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and related materials used in the cell.

Why do amorphous solar cells have a higher absorption than crystalline solar cells?

The amorphous silicon solar cell has a much higher absorption compared to the crystalline silicon solar cell because of its disorder in the atomic structure. The optical transitions are perceived as localized transitions, thus increasing the efficiency for optical transitions.

What are amorphous silicon thin films used for?

Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films are currently widely used as passivation layers for crystalline silicon solar cells, leading, thus, to heterojunction cells (HJT cells), as described in Chap. 7, next-up. HJT cells work with passivated contacts on both sides.