A metasurface light-trapping structure for solar cell applications.

Abstract

Light trapping structures can enhance the absorption and reduce the thickness and costs of solar cells. Among light trapping structures, the metasurface structure utilizes Mie scattering to make light enter the solar active layer better, thus improving the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of solar cells. Herein, we simulated and optimized a metasurface light-trapping structure for solar cells and implemented this structure on solar cells. Simulation results of thin-film silicon-based solar cells show that the maximum short-circuit current can be increased to 24.46 mA/cm² using a metasurface light-trapping structure, which is an increase of 40.49% compared to the reference bare cell. In addition, when this metasurface structure is integrated into a crystalline silicon solar cell, we find that the maximum short-circuits current reaches 29.09 mA/cm², which is an even more significant improvement of 54.6% compared to the reference bare cell, and the power conversion efficiency increases by 7.14%. This study verifies the effect of a metasurface light-trapping structure on the light absorption of silicon-based solar cells.