Surface wrinkling for increasing the short circuit current density of thin film solar cells deposited on chemically oxidized silicone surface

Solar cell technology is one of the most promising sources of clean energy. However, some limitations include low efficiency, high manufacturing cost, and large consumption of material. A novel method of depositing a thin film direct bandgap semiconductor material on lightweight substrate, which would result in higher specific power (kW/kg), is explored in this work. The efficiency of such solar cells can be further increased by providing a textured surface, resulting in reduced optical losses therefore increasing light trapping. This paper reports a novel method which makes use of a mechanical instability in a soft material (polydimethylsiloxane) to make wrinkles on its surface by chemically oxidizing the surface using Piranha solution. Further, these wrinkles were arranged in order by applying external force to the soft material before chemical oxidation. Theoretical studies have been carried out and found more than 10% increase in transmittance and short circuit current if a cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell is to be deposited on such substrate.