Improving Efficiency of Multicrystalline Silicon and CIGS Solar Cells by Incorporating Metal Nanoparticles

Ming-Jer Jeng; Zih-Yang Chen; Yu-Ling Xiao; Liann-Be Chang; Jianping Ao; Yun Sun; Ewa Popko; Witold Jacak; Lee Chow

doi:10.3390/ma8105337

Improving Efficiency of Multicrystalline Silicon and CIGS Solar Cells by Incorporating Metal Nanoparticles

Materials (Basel). 2015 Oct 8;8(10):6761-6771. doi: 10.3390/ma8105337.

Authors

Ming-Jer Jeng¹, Zih-Yang Chen², Yu-Ling Xiao³, Liann-Be Chang⁴, Jianping Ao⁵, Yun Sun⁶, Ewa Popko⁷, Witold Jacak⁸, Lee Chow⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Kweishan-Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. mjjeng@mail.cgu.edu.tw.
² Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Kweishan-Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. b0027111@stmail.cgu.edu.tw.
³ Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Kweishan-Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. m0324016@stmail.cgu.edu.tw.
⁴ Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Kweishan-Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. liann@mail.cgu.edu.tw.
⁵ Institute of Photoelectronic Thin Film Devices and Technology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Thin film Devices and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. aojp@nankai.edu.cn.
⁶ Institute of Photoelectronic Thin Film Devices and Technology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Thin film Devices and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. suny@nankai.edu.cn.
⁷ Institute of Physics, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw 50-370, Poland. Ewa.Popko@pwr.edu.pl.
⁸ Institute of Physics, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw 50-370, Poland. witold.aleksander.jacak@pwr.edu.pl.
⁹ Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA. Lee.Chow@ucf.edu.

Abstract

This work studies the use of gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles in multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) and copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. Au and Ag nanoparticles are deposited by spin-coating method, which is a simple and low cost process. The random distribution of nanoparticles by spin coating broadens the resonance wavelength of the transmittance. This broadening favors solar cell applications. Metal shadowing competes with light scattering in a manner that varies with nanoparticle concentration. Experimental results reveal that the mc-Si solar cells that incorporate Au nanoparticles outperform those with Ag nanoparticles. The incorporation of suitable concentration of Au and Ag nanoparticles into mc-Si solar cells increases their efficiency enhancement by 5.6% and 4.8%, respectively. Incorporating Au and Ag nanoparticles into CIGS solar cells improve their efficiency enhancement by 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively. The enhancement of the photocurrent in mc-Si solar cells is lower than that in CIGS solar cells, owing to their different light scattering behaviors and material absorption coefficients.

Keywords: Au and Ag nanoparticles; CIGS solar cells; multicrystalline silicon; spin coating.