Surface texturing with multi-objective particle swarm optimization for absorption enhancement in silicon photovoltaics

Abstract

Increasing light absorption in ultrathin-film silicon solar cells is important to improve efficiency and reduce costs. In this study, multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) is employed to find proper solar cell parameters for minimum reflection and maximum light trapping which give rise to enhanced absorption. Numerical investigations for two different surface patterns (rectangular and pyramid) are conducted. The results show that, for the ultrathin-film silicon solar cell having an equivalent thickness of 2 ?m, random surfaced pyramid structure provides an ideal photocurrent of 36.96 mA/cm2 and random surfaced rectangular structure provides an ideal photocurrent of 34.67 mA/cm2. From this point of view, proposed approach can be applied to various semiconductor film thicknesses by providing robustness against metallic loss at the back plate of the solar cells. © 2019 IEEE.