Optimization of process parameters of thin film deposition in solar PV cells using magnetron sputtering process

Abstract

India is the 6th largest consumer of electricity in the world. The revenue losses due to power failure are rising at an alarming rate of 11.9% in last 5 years. The negative effects of the conventional energy sources can be overcome by making use of the solar energy with additional advantages, but there are significant challenges to be overcome in order to make use of clean energy. They are as follows: energy cost, energy fluctuation, location dependency, and huge investment requirement, losses in solar cell and poor energy conversion efficiency in the order to 14%. In this research, an experimental investigation has been carried out to improve the energy efficiency of solar PV cells by texturing three different metals such as Cu, Ag and Al over the solar PV cells at specific places by using RF and DC magnetron sputtering process. To study the properties of the thin film, the process parameters such as power, deposition time and substrate temperature were optimized and corresponding coating thickness, optical properties and surface topography were investigated. The coating thickness and surface roughness increased when the power increased from 15W to 45W. Average surface roughness (Ra) of 6nm was obtained at the optimum power of 45W with deposition rate of 5-7 mins. The surface morphology and topography was characterized by using SEM and AFM which shows uniform coating with spherical shaped nanoparticles deposited over the substrate at 300°C. UV-VIS-NIR spectrometer indicates that the optical absorption is increased from 1.31% to 1.68% at the wavelength range from 250 to 314nm. The reflection was reduced from 13.4% to 3.67% and the conversion efficiency was increased from 14% to 20%. The complete experimental details, results and analysis are reported in this paper.India is the 6th largest consumer of electricity in the world. The revenue losses due to power failure are rising at an alarming rate of 11.9% in last 5 years. The negative effects of the conventional energy sources can be overcome by making use of the solar energy with additional advantages, but there are significant challenges to be overcome in order to make use of clean energy. They are as follows: energy cost, energy fluctuation, location dependency, and huge investment requirement, losses in solar cell and poor energy conversion efficiency in the order to 14%. In this research, an experimental investigation has been carried out to improve the energy efficiency of solar PV cells by texturing three different metals such as Cu, Ag and Al over the solar PV cells at specific places by using RF and DC magnetron sputtering process. To study the properties of the thin film, the process parameters such as power, deposition time and substrate temperature were optimized and corresponding coating thickness, opti...