We present a universally applicable 3D-printed external light trap for enhanced absorption in solar cells. The macroscopic external light trap is placed at the sun-facing surface of the solar cell and retro-reflects the light that would otherwise escape. The light trap consists of a reflective parabolic concentrator placed on top of a reflective cage. Upon placement of the light trap, an improvement of 15% of both the photocurrent and the power conversion efficiency in a thin-film nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) solar cell is measured. The trapped light traverses the solar cell several times within the reflective cage thereby increasing the total absorption in the cell. Consequently, the trap reduces optical losses and enhances the absorption over the entire spectrum. The components of the light trap are 3D printed and made of smoothened, silver-coated thermoplastic. In contrast to conventional light trapping methods, external light trapping leaves the material quality and the electrical properties of the solar cell unaffected. To explain the theoretical operation of the external light trap, we introduce a model that predicts the absorption enhancement in the solar cell by the external light trap. The corresponding calculated path length enhancement shows good agreement with the empirically derived value from the opto-electrical data of the solar cell. Moreover, we analyze the influence of the angle of incidence on the parasitic absorptance to obtain full understanding of the trap performance.
3D-printed external light trap for solar cells / L.V. Dijk, U.W. Paetzold, G.A. Blab, R.E.I. Schropp, M. Di Vece. - In: PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS. - ISSN 1062-7995. - 24:5(2016 May), pp. 623-633.
3D-printed external light trap for solar cells
M. Di VeceUltimo
2016
Abstract
We present a universally applicable 3D-printed external light trap for enhanced absorption in solar cells. The macroscopic external light trap is placed at the sun-facing surface of the solar cell and retro-reflects the light that would otherwise escape. The light trap consists of a reflective parabolic concentrator placed on top of a reflective cage. Upon placement of the light trap, an improvement of 15% of both the photocurrent and the power conversion efficiency in a thin-film nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) solar cell is measured. The trapped light traverses the solar cell several times within the reflective cage thereby increasing the total absorption in the cell. Consequently, the trap reduces optical losses and enhances the absorption over the entire spectrum. The components of the light trap are 3D printed and made of smoothened, silver-coated thermoplastic. In contrast to conventional light trapping methods, external light trapping leaves the material quality and the electrical properties of the solar cell unaffected. To explain the theoretical operation of the external light trap, we introduce a model that predicts the absorption enhancement in the solar cell by the external light trap. The corresponding calculated path length enhancement shows good agreement with the empirically derived value from the opto-electrical data of the solar cell. Moreover, we analyze the influence of the angle of incidence on the parasitic absorptance to obtain full understanding of the trap performance.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Dijk_et_al-Progress_in_Photovoltaics__Research_and_Applications.pdf
accesso aperto
Tipologia:
Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione
4.35 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
4.35 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
Dijk_et_al-2016-Progress_in_Photovoltaics__Research_and_Applications.pdf
accesso aperto
Tipologia:
Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione
4.43 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
4.43 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.