General Principles of Solar Cell Simulation and Introduction to AFORS-HET

The principles of numerical solar cell simulation are described, using AFORS-HET (automat for simulation of heterostructures) which is a device simulator program for modelling multi layer homo- or heterojunction solar cells and typical characterization methods in one dimension. The basic equations for the optical and electrical calculations used in AFORS-HET are explained including a detailed description of the equations needed to calculate the recombination via defects in the semiconductor layers.