Disordered photonic structures for light harvesting in solar cells

Year: 2013

Authors: Pratesi F., Burresi M., Riboli F., Vynck K., Wiersma D.S.

Autors Affiliation: European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Via N. Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (CNR-INO), Largo Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italy

Abstract: The effect of periodic and disordered photonic structures on the absorption efficiency of amorphous and crystalline Silicon thin-film solar cells is investigated numerically. We show that disordered patterns possessing a short-range correlation in the position of the holes yield comparable, or even superior, absorption enhancements than periodic (photonic crystal) patterns. This work provides clear evidence that non-deterministic photonic structures represent a viable alternative strategy for photon management in thin-film solar cells, thereby opening the route towards more efficient and potentially cheaper photovoltaic technologies. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Journal/Review: OPTICS EXPRESS

Volume: 21 (9)      Pages from: A460  to: A468

More Information: We thank Gaurasundar Marc Conley for useful suggestions on the FOMs and to the complex photonics systems group at LENS for discussions. This work is financially supported by the European Network of Excellence Nanophotonics for Energy Efficiency, the ERC through the Advanced Grant PhotBots, ENI S.p.A. Novara, CNR-EFOR, and CNR-Fotonica2015.
KeyWords: Broad-band; Limit
DOI: 10.1364/OE.21.00A460

Citations: 108
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