Open issues for the numerical simulation of silicon solar cells

The improvement of solar cell efficiency requires device optimization, including the careful design of contacts and doping profiles, and the implementation of light trapping strategies. In this context, electro-optical numerical simulation is essential to analyze the physical mechanisms that limit the cell efficiency and lead to design trade-offs. In this work we discuss the calibration of the relevant physical models for electrical simulation and we put in evidence important limitations of the most common adopted optical simulators.