Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T09:14:46.880Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Broadband Absorptance High Efficiency Silicon Nanowire Fractal Arrays for Photovoltaic Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2014

Omar H. Alzoubi ,
Husam Abu-Safe ,
Khalid Alshurman  and
Hameed A. Naseem
Omar H. Alzoubi
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, U.S.A.
Husam Abu-Safe
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Engineering and Management, German-Jordanian University, Madaba, Jordan
Khalid Alshurman
Affiliation:
Microelectronics and photonics program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, U.S.A.
Hameed A. Naseem
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, U.S.A.
Get access

Abstract

Nanowire arrays have been proposed to enhance light trapping, increase efficiencies, and reduced material cost in photovoltaic solar cells. In this work we present a new crystalline silicon nanowire array structure, inspired by fractal geometry. The array structure is assumed to be an infinite 2D array in the x and y directions, and composed of vertically aligned SiNW suspended in air. Hexagonal fractal-like geometry is adapted in arranging cylindrical SiNW in these arrays. Full-wave finite element method 3D simulation is used to compute reflectance, transmittance and absorptance of the array for a normal incidence plane wave. The proposed fractal-like distribution of SiNW arrays yield broad absorption spectrum and enhanced efficiency while using less material. The efficiency of the proposed fractal-like SiNW arrays achieve ∼100% enhancement over that of the equivalent thickness flat c-Si film, and ∼18% enhancement over an equivalent height hexagonal array. The proposed optimized structures achieved a filling ratio ∼25%, which is ∼33% less than the corresponding hexagonal array.

Keywords

photovoltaicopticalnanostructure
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1707: Symposium UU – Semiconductor Nanowires—Synthesis, Properties and Applications , 2014 , mrss14-1707-uu06-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Hua, B., Lin, Q., Zhang, Q. & Fan, Z. Efficient photon management with nanostructures for photovoltaics. Nanoscale 5, 6627–6640 (2013).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeman, M. et al. . Advanced Light Management Approaches for Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cells. Energy Procedia 15, 189–199 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaucarne, G. Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells. Advances in OptoElectronics, vol. 2007, 36970, ( 2007).Google Scholar
Wang, W., Wu, S., Reinhardt, K., Lu, Y. & Chen, S. Broadband Light Absorption Enhancement in Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cells. Nano Lett. 10, 2012–2018 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spinelli, P. et al. . Plasmonic light trapping in thin-film Si solar cells. J. Opt. 14, 024002 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, C., Yu, S., Chen, W. & Sun, C. Highly Efficient Light-Trapping Structure Design Inspired By Natural Evolution. Sci. Rep. 3, (2013).Google ScholarPubMed
Du, Q. G., Kam, C. H., Demir, H. V., Yu, H. Y. & Sun, X. W. Broadband absorption enhancement in randomly positioned silicon nanowire arrays for solar cell applications. Opt. Lett. 36, 1884–1886 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bao, H. & Ruan, X. Optical absorption enhancement in disordered vertical silicon nanowire arrays for photovoltaic applications. Opt. Lett. 35, 3378–3380 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tsakalakos, L. et al. . Silicon nanowire solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 233117 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palik, E. D.., Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids. New York: Academic, 1985.Google Scholar
Hu, L. & Chen, G. Analysis of Optical Absorption in Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Photovoltaic Applications. Nano Lett. 7, 3249–3252 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed