Nanoplate structure for photocurrent enhancement in thin film solar cell

Abstract

We investigated the novel thin film solar cell with nanoplate structure that can solve the conflict between the light absorption and the carrier transport in amorphous silicon thin film solar cell. This structure has n-type amorphous silicon nanoplate array on the substrate, and the p-layer and i-layer are sequentially grown along the surface of each n-type amorphous silicon nanoplate. Under sunlight illumination, the light is absorbed along the vertical direction of nanoplate. However, the carrier transport is along the horizontal direction. Therefore, nanoplate with the larger height can absorb most of the sunlight. In the meantime, the thickness of the solar cell is still thin enough for effective transport of photo-generated carriers.