Reassessment of classic recombination mechanisms in silicon point contact concentrator solar cell

Three dimensional numerical model of silicon point contact concentrator solar cell was built based on the recently established set of accurate empirical models and parameters, The model was applied to reassess the loss mechanisms acting in point contact cells as previously described in a classic paper by Sinton and Swanson. The main difference was found due to injection dependence of surface recombination velocity, which wasn't considered previously. Mostly because of this fact, surface recombination was shown to dominate recombination losses at up to 30 W/cm
²
light intensities. Although a good fit to the measured open circuit voltages, the built model is missing actual diffusion profiles and exact measured surface recombination properties, which is critical to improve the accuracy.