Solar Cells: Optical &

Recombination Losses
Submitted by
MST. TASKINA NASRIN
 Contents
• Introduction
• Optical Losses
• Recombination losses
• Conclusion
• References
 Introduction
This Presentation includes following key points-
• Optical losses
1.Absorption of light in a semiconductor
2.Absorption Coefficient
3.Various methods for trapping the light within the semiconductor
• Recombination processes
1. Radiative recombination,
2. Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination or Non- radiative
recombination,
3.Auger recombination
4.Surface recombination.
 Light Management in Solar Cells

• Photons that aren’t absorbed can’t

be used to create useful energy.
(not absorbed means transmitted or
reflected.)
• Only absorbed energy can make
useful energy, thus we want to
maximize this fraction!
 Absorption of Light
Absorption of light in a solar cell means
that a photon is absorbed in the
semiconductor and gives off its energy to
create an electron-hole pair.
In semiconductor physics, one says that
the electron has been moved from the
valence band to the conduction band.
Thereby a free hole is left behind in the
valence band. Thus, a pair of one “free
electron” and one “free hole” is created.
Fig. Illustration of the photo-generation of
an electron-hole pair
 Absorption of Light
Photons falling onto a semiconductor material can be divided into three groups based on their energy
compared to that of the semiconductor band gap:

Eph>Eg, At photon energies above Eph < Eg, At photon energies less than If, Eph = Eg, at photon energy equal to
the band gap, light is strongly the band gap interact only weakly the bandgap have enough energy to
absorbed by the semiconductor. with the semiconductor, passing create an electron hole pair and are
However, for photovoltaic through it as if it were transparent. efficiently absorbed.
applications, sometimes the photon
energy greater than the band gap is
wasted as thermalization Losses.
 Absorption Coefficient ( )
The absorption coefficient determines how far into a material light
of a particular wavelength can penetrate before it is absorbed.

I=Io .e - .l
In a material with a low absorption coefficient, light is only poorly
absorbed, and if the material is thin enough, it will appear
transparent to that wavelength.

Different semiconductor materials have different absorption

coefficients. Materials with higher absorption coefficients more
readily absorb photons, which excite electrons into the conduction
band. The absorption coefficients of materials aids in determining
which material to use in their solar cell designs.
Fig. The absorption coefficient for
several semiconductor materials
 Methods for Trapping light
For example, In order for a photon to be able to produce an electron-hole pair with
high probability, the optical path through the silicon wafer must be long enough. This
can be achieved by making the solar cell very thick. At a thickness of 10 mm (almost)
all the light would be absorbed. However, material costs are a constraining factor and
so the aim is to make the solar cell as thin as possible. The thinner the solar cell
becomes, the more important it is to increase the absorption of sunlight in ways other
than thickness.

There are basically three possibilities:

1. Front side: reducing reflection with optimized surface coating
2. Texturing of the front surface
3. Passivation of the back surface; mirror formation at the back.
 Front Side: Avoiding Reflection with Optimized Surface
Coating

Upon perpendicular incidence, an untreated silicon

surface reflects back about 35% of the incident
sunlight. This can be easily deduced from the Fresnel
equations.
R = ((n1 - n2)/(n1 + n2))2
n1 refractive index of air ≈ 1
n2 refractive index of silicon ≈ 3.9

• 35% reflection occurs when light falls vertically Fig. Air-silicon

• If light falls diagonally onto the solar cell, the interface 35% of the
incoming light is reflected
reflection is even higher and even more sunlight is
returned unused.
 Front Side: Avoiding Reflection with Optimized Surface
Coating

Anti-reflective Coating” (ARC ):In Order to reduce the

reflectance, we have to process the solar cell surface. In optics,
this step is also called “applying an anti-reflective coating”
(ARC).

Ideally, putting a thin layer on top of the solar cell, so that the
incident and reflected light waves cancel out. We do this by:
1. Adjusting the thickness of the additional thin layer, by
adapting it to the wavelength of the incident sunlight so that the
desired phase difference of the incident and reflected light
results in a destructive interference, and
2. Choosing the refractive index of the additional layer to lie
between the refractive indices of the two adjacent materials in
our case air and silicon. Fig. Anti-Reflective Coating
Courtesy of PVCDROM.
 Additional Considerations: How to Increase
Light Trapping Further
Texturization: A further method to improve light trapping in solar cells is to structure the front and the back
surfaces of the solar cell
One-axis or two-axis trackers:
The angle of the incidence of sunlight determines the optimal thickness of the ARC layer. If modules are
installed on a fixed mounting rack, the angle of incidence of sunlight changes during the day. Since the ARC
layer itself and also the whole solar cell is fixed, the light yield is not always optimal. Therefore, single-axis
and two-axis trackers are used to optimize the effectiveness of light collection. With single-axis trackers,
approx. 10% and with two-axis trackers approx. 20% more energy can be generated over the year compared
to the situation, where the modules are mounted with a fixed angle.
Double layer coating:
If the reflections are to be further reduced over a wide range of wavelengths and angles, it is necessary to
stack several layers with different refractive indices and thicknesses, one above the other. Basically, an
attempt is made to keep the reflectance low at the wavelength of light where the greatest amount of light
energy hits the earth. This means the reflection should be low between 550 and 900 nm. Double layers are
used in newer cell concepts
 Wafering and Its Effects on Light Trapping
The wafering process has a significant
influence on the texture and, thus, on
the efficiency of the solar cell.

Two processes are used in mass

production nowadays,
i)The slurry process and
ii)The cutting process with diamond
wire

Fig. Illustration of a) the slurry process; b) the diamond wire

process; c) multiwire configuration; d) wire web. Courtesy of
Meyer Burger Technology AG
 Texturing of the Front Surface

Multiple reflections on surface:

• Increase probability that light enters
device.
• Increase effective path length of
incoming light.
 Passivation of the Back Surface and Mirror
Formation at the Back
On the back we can apply two improvements:
1. Passivation and light reflection with a metal paste (aluminum paste)
• A reflector used at the back thus light that travel through the cell is reflected and optical path
doubled
• Light receives a second chance to be absorbed
• The back side of a solar cell has to be passivated in all cases, i.e. the recombination centers formed
by the surface have to be deactivated; otherwise there is a substantial reduction in current and
efficiency
• The metallization pastes (aluminum pastes) uses to form electrical contacts enhances the reflection
at the back. In this case, a clever arrangement of dielectric layer stacks can achieve practically total
reflection and, thus, an “ideal” optical mirror can be implemented .

2.Texturing the back side.

 Recombination Losses
Recombination Losses: Light of appropriate wavelength shining on a semiconductor
creates electron hole pair. The concentrations of carriers in illuminated material will
therefore be in excess of their values ​in the dark. If the light is switched off, these
concentrations decay back to their equilibrium values. The process by which this
decay occurs is known as recombination. In a solar cell, recombination acts to restore
the non‐equilibrium light generated Electron Hole Pair population to its thermal
equilibrium value.
We distinguish here between four different types
of recombination:
1. Radiative recombination
2. Auger recombination
3. Shockley-Read-Hall recombination or non radiative Recombination
4. Surface recombination
 Recombination Losses
Radiative recombination: Radiative recombination resulting in the
emission of a photon. This is often called band‐to‐band
recombination. It occurs less frequently and is not so important for
indirect-bandgap semiconductors such as silicon—when compared
to direct-bandgap semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide.
Radiative recombination is a material-inherent type of
recombination and does not depend on impurities or doping. It is
present in all semiconductors.

Auger Recombination: In Auger recombination, the energy

released when one electron jumps from the conduction band
into the valence band is transferred to a third particle. The
energy can be given over to an electron or to a hole. The first
case is called electron-electron-hole recombination and the Fig. (a) radiative band‐to‐band; (b) Auger
Recombination;
second case is called electron-hole-hole recombination
 Recombination Losses
Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) Recombination or Non Radiative
Recombination
In all semiconductors there are also defects caused by impurities, such as
oxygen, carbon or iron. If these impurities (defects) are located on crystal
lattice sites of the silicon wafer, they lead to additional energy levels
within the bandgap. These energy levels are easier to reach for electrons
and holes. They can climb down like on a staircase, which is easier for
them, than crossing the whole bandgap in one step. They, thus, act on the Fig. Non radiative Recombination
charge carriers as recombination centers.

Surface Recombination
A large part of the recombination within solar cells can be attributed to
surface recombination. The neighboring lattice atoms are missing on the
surface, so that foreign atoms, especially oxygen, can accumulate.
Additionally, doping with foreign atoms, for example with phosphorous,
also contaminates the surface and even intensify the recombination.
Finally, and most importantly, the metal contacts are lying on the surface
—these contacts introduce additional contaminants and, act, thus as very
active recombination centers. Fig. Electron and hole capture at the
surface of a semiconductor
 References
i. T. Marvart, L. Castaner, Solar Cells: Materials, Manufacture and Operation (Elsevier, 2005).
ISBN 1856174573
ii. Arvind Shah, EPFL (PV-Lab)Neuchâtel, Switzerland, “Solar Cells and Modules, Springer Series in
Materials Science” Volume 301.
iii. W. Shockley, W.T. Read, Phys. Rev. 87, 835 (1952); R.N. Hall, Phys. Rev. 83, 228 (1951)
iv. . Baumeister, Optical absorption of cuprous oxide. Phys. Rev. 121(2), 359 (1961)
v. S. Werner, E. Lohmüller, S. Maier, S. Mourad, A. Wolf, Challenges for lowly-doped phosphorous emitters
in silicon solar cells with screen-printed silver contacts, in 7th International Conference on Silicon
Photovoltaics, Silicon PV 2017. Energy Procedia 124, 936–946 (2017)
Thank You