EFFECTIVENESS OF SURFACE TEXTURING AND OPTICAL WIDTH IN MINIMIZING THE OPTICAL LOSS OF A SOLAR CELL: A SIMULATED STUDY

Abstract

Optical loss is one of the prime factors of a solar cell. If the parameters responsible for the optical loss are not dealt with properly, the efficiency of the solar cell is hampered significantly. Anti-Relfelction coating is a commonly studied mechanism to reduce optical loss. This research paper presents a simulated study on the reduction of optical loss by employing surface texturing and enhancing the optical path inside the active layer of a given solar cell. The surface textures have been employed on both the front and rear surfaces of the solar cell. Also, for the analysis purpose the various types of structure have been considered. The analysis shows that, among considered types, Upright Hillocks shows the minimum reflection.  Further, the effectiveness of a particular surface structure is found to be depend on the characteristic angle. Similarly, the total optical path travelled through the active layer is found to be increase with increase in the propagation angle of the ray inside the active layer of the solar cell.