Triple-Junction Hybrid Tandem Solar Cells with Amorphous Silicon and Polymer-Fullerene Blends

Organic-inorganic hybrid tandem solar cells attract a considerable amount of attention due to their potential for realizing high efficiency photovoltaic devices at a low cost. Here, highly efficient triple-junction (TJ) hybrid tandem solar cells consisting of a double-junction (DJ) amorphous silicon (a-Si) cell and an organic photovoltaic (OPV) rear cell were developed. In order to design the TJ device in a logical manner, a simulation was carried out based on optical absorption and internal quantum efficiency. In the TJ architecture, the high-energy photons were utilized in a more efficient way than in the previously reported a-Si/OPV DJ devices, leading to a significant improvement in the overall efficiency by means of a voltage gain. The interface engineering such as tin-doped In2O3 deposition as an interlayer and its UV-ozone treatment resulted in the further improvement in the performance of the TJ solar cells. As a result, a power conversion efficiency of 7.81% was achieved with an open-circuit voltage of 2.35 V. The wavelength-resolved absorption profile provides deeper insight into the detailed optical response of the TJ hybrid solar cells.

[1]  Laura M. Herz,et al.  Electron-Hole Diffusion Lengths Exceeding 1 Micrometer in an Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Absorber , 2013, Science.

[2]  Stanford R. Ovshinsky,et al.  Band‐gap profiling for improving the efficiency of amorphous silicon alloy solar cells , 1989 .

[3]  Soo-Hyun Kim,et al.  Remarkable progress in thin-film silicon solar cells using high-efficiency triple-junction technology , 2013 .

[4]  Lei Zhao,et al.  High‐performance a‐SiGe:H thin film prepared by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition with high plasma power for solar‐cell application , 2012 .

[5]  Robert C. Wolpert,et al.  A Review of the , 1985 .

[6]  Zach M. Beiley,et al.  Modeling low cost hybrid tandem photovoltaics with the potential for efficiencies exceeding 20 , 2012 .

[7]  Philippe Lalanne,et al.  Multi-resonant absorption in ultra-thin silicon solar cells with metallic nanowires. , 2013, Optics express.

[8]  Tayfun Gokmen,et al.  Beyond 11% Efficiency: Characteristics of State‐of‐the‐Art Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells , 2013 .

[9]  Miao Xu,et al.  Enhanced power-conversion efficiency in polymer solar cells using an inverted device structure , 2012, Nature Photonics.

[10]  S. Jones,et al.  IMPROVEMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURE OF AMORPHOUS SILICON-GERMANIUM ALLOYS BY HYDROGEN DILUTION , 1995 .

[11]  Stephen R. Forrest,et al.  Small molecular weight organic thin-film photodetectors and solar cells , 2003 .

[12]  L. S. Roman,et al.  Modeling photocurrent action spectra of photovoltaic devices based on organic thin films , 1999 .

[13]  Thomas Kirchartz,et al.  Competition between the charge transfer state and the singlet states of donor or acceptor limiting the efficiency in polymer:fullerene solar cells. , 2012, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[14]  S. Ovshinsky,et al.  Fluorinated amorphous silicon-germanium alloys deposited from disilane-germane mixture , 1987 .

[15]  Honggon Kim,et al.  Organic-inorganic hybrid tandem multijunction photovoltaics with extended spectral response , 2011 .

[16]  R. Crandall,et al.  Determination of carrier collection length and prediction of fill factor in amorphous silicon solar cells , 1984 .

[17]  Christoph J. Brabec,et al.  Organic tandem solar cells: A review , 2009 .

[18]  N. E. Coates,et al.  Efficient Tandem Polymer Solar Cells Fabricated by All-Solution Processing , 2007, Science.

[19]  Edward H. Sargent,et al.  Tandem colloidal quantum dot solar cells employing a graded recombination layer , 2011 .

[20]  S. Guha,et al.  Triple-junction amorphous silicon alloy solar cell with 14.6% initial and 13.0% stable conversion efficiencies , 1997 .

[21]  C. Fraser,et al.  Probiotics: Finding the Right Regulatory Balance , 2013, Science.

[22]  Jan Gilot,et al.  Optimizing Polymer Tandem Solar Cells , 2010, Advanced materials.

[23]  Honggon Kim,et al.  Hybrid tandem photovoltaic devices with a transparent conductive interconnecting recombination layer , 2012 .

[24]  Yang Yang,et al.  A polymer tandem solar cell with 10.6% power conversion efficiency , 2013, Nature Communications.

[25]  Michael S. Shur,et al.  Physics of amorphous silicon alloy p‐i‐n solar cells , 1985 .

[26]  Weiwei Li,et al.  Efficient tandem and triple-junction polymer solar cells. , 2013, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[27]  Y. Park,et al.  High Efficiency Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Tandem Solar Cells , 2012, Advanced materials.

[28]  P. Cabarrocas,et al.  Calculation of the position-dependent inner collection efficiency in PIN solar cells using an electrical–optical model , 2004 .