Effects of front and bottom texturings on gallium arsenide solar cell characteristics
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The Gallium Arsenide solar cells are of particular interest in many applications due to its advantages over silicon. Its high absorptivity requires a cell that is only few microns thick, compared to silicon. GaAs cells are relatively insensitive to heat and their resistance to radiation also makes the GaAs based cell preferable to Si for extra-terrestrial applications. In this research, the effects of front and bottom texturing on the GaAs solar cell were studied, in particular their effects on the fill factor, open circuit voltage and the short circuit currents were analyzed. Silvaco, an industry standard simulation suite was used for the design and analysis of the various texturing for the GaAs solar cell. In this thesis, five different cell models consisting of the un-textured cell, top, bottom, top and bottom, as well as meta-structures were considered for analysis. Using AM1.5 spectrum with the aid of beam parameter of the simulation software under 1-sun condition, Isc and Voc were obtained. The IV characteristics were plotted for all the models in the presence and absence of light, providing light and dark currents for the cell. Maximum power generated in the device was measured and the Fill Factor calculated. The texturing's were considered on the window layer and above the gold mirror layer for top and bottom texturing's respectively, with In0.5Ga0.5P and also with a combination of alternating metal dielectric slabs forming a meta structure over a gold layer on the window layer. Results for these designs showed that the performance of various GaAs solar cells with In0.5Ga0.5P texturing on the top has better device characteristics compared to other designs.
Degree
M.S.
Thesis Department
Rights
Access to files is limited to the University of Missouri--Columbia.