Effect of porous silicon layer re-emission on silicon solar cell photocurrent

The feasibility of the improvement of crystalline Si solar cells is considered by employing a thick porous Si (PS) layer. The influence of re-emission, absorption and reflectivity of PS on the photocurrent of the solar cell are studied using numerical simulations and experimental verification. The measurement of additional photocurrent caused by re-emission of PS is shown to allow to evaluate the external quantum efficiency of PS photoluminescence which can achieve approximately 4-5% on n-Si. In this case the effect of PS re-emission on short circuit current of commercial solar cells reaches up to a few percent for terrestrial applications. The calculated total benefit of a PS antireflection coating on short-circuit current can be up to 35-41%.