Modeling solar cells with the dopant-diffused layers treated as conductive boundaries

authored by

Rolf Brendel

Abstract

Modeling of transport and recombination of charge carriers in solar cells is useful for understanding and improving the device performance. We implement the fully coupled transport equations for electrons and holes into the finite-element partial differential equation solver COMSOL. The dopant-diffused surface regions such as junctions, floating junctions, or back surface field layers are treated as conductive boundaries of the volume in which the semiconductor equations are solved. This so-called conductive boundary (CoBo) model characterizes diffused layers by their sheet resistances and diode saturation current densities. Both are directly experimentally accessible. The CoBo model exhibits excellent numerical stability and enables two-dimensional simulations on a laptop. We find agreement when testing the two-dimensional COMSOL implementation of the CoBo model for one-dimensional devices against simulations using the code PC1D. We apply the CoBo model to elucidate how the sheet resistance of diffused vias impacts the power conversion efficiency of emitter wrap through solar cells.

Organisation(s)

Solar Energy Section

External Organisation(s)

Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH)

Type

Article

Journal

Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications

Volume

20

Pages

31-43

No. of pages

13

ISSN

1062-7995

Publication date

29.12.2011

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Condensed Matter Physics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.954 (Access: Closed)