Efficiency enhancement of the poly-silicon solar cell using self-assembled dielectric nanoparticles

In this study, silica nanospheres dispersed in a surfactant solution were spin-coated on commercially available silicon solar cells to form colloidal crystals on the surface. This self-assembled nanoparticle layer served as an anti-reflection (AR) layer for solar cell devices. The self-assembled layer exhibits excellent anti-reflection properties in the UV and NIR wavelength regions, and the reflectance spectra match the theoretical prediction done using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis model. We also showed that the overall conversion efficiency of polycrystalline Si solar cells coated with the silica nanospheres was increased from 11% to 12.3% when using optimized spin-coating parameters and nanoparticle concentrations.

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► This work provides a simple and truly economic way to boost the conversion efficiency of commercially available poly-silicon solar cells.
► Surface reflectance in UV and NIR is reduced with a layer of close-packed silica nanoparticles using a spin-coating technique.
► Optical properties of the self-assembled nanoparticle layers are simulated based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method.