2D p-FF Simulations for the Interpretation of Junction Isolation's Influence on Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

In their operating, silicon heterojunction solar cells involve many processes ranging from generation of electron-hole pairs, recombination of charge carriers at different parts of the structure, lateral charge carrier transport, etc. In order to study in details such solar cells, simulation is required to separate the influence of limiting factors on cells performance. In this context we present 2D simulations of front and rear emitter silicon heterojunction solar cells accounting for the presence of highly recombinative silicon wafer edges; simulations were developed in the frame of the commercial package Atlas from Silvaco. Simulations have been built up to model SunsVoc measurements to extract pseudo-current-voltage curves (p-FF, p-Voc). Several parameters in the structure are varied to improve the understanding of solar cells, such as defect densities, thicknesses, etc. Finally, simulation results are discussed in the frame of experimental results and industrial ways to isolate junctions on finished solar cells.