Enhancement of silicon solar cell efficiency by using back surface field in comparison of different antireflective coatings

• Effective Al–BSF solar cells were fabricated through simple technique.
• TiO2 and SiO2 AR coatings were applied to BSF cells.
• Results were compared each other as well as with the as-grown Si solar cell.
• BSF solar cell with TiO2 AR coating showed best performance over other cells.

Back surface field (BSF) (n+–p–p+) silicon (Si) solar cells were fabricated with and without TiO2 or SiO2 single layer antireflection (SLAR) coatings. The two cell types were obtained with non-texturized surfaces and compared with each other, as well as with an as-grown Si solar cell. The effective aluminium–BSF was fabricated through a simple thermal evaporation and alloying (850 °C, 50 min) technique. The effect of BSF and AR coatings on the performance of the solar cells were characterized through electrical (AM 1.5 G, 100 mW/cm2), optical, and morphological measurements. The BSF Si solar cells with TiO2 and SiO2 AR coatings and without AR coatings demonstrated increased efficiencies of about 168%, 115%, and 50%, respectively, compared with the as-grown Si solar cell. The addition of the TiO2 (AR) layer initiated 24% improvement in the efficiency of the monocrystalline BSF Si solar cells, compared with 6.9% of the SiO2 (AR) coated BSF Si solar cell. The results indicate the potential of combining the TiO2 SLAR coating with BSF in the improved production of high-efficiency, low-cost Si solar cells.