Design and simulation of proposed low cost solar cell structures based on heavily doped silicon wafers

This paper aims to present the design and simulation of two proposed low cost solar cell structures; namely, pn and npn. Both structures are based on commercially available low cost heavily doped silicon wafers. Their operation relies on the idea of vertical generation and lateral collection of the light generated carriers. A detailed qualitative analysis of both structures is given and verified using advanced TCAD tools. The comparison is analyzed firstly regarding the illuminated IV characteristics. The open circuit voltage (V
_oc
), short circuit current density (J
_sc
), fill factor (F.F) and conversion efficiency (η) are calculated. Additionally, the optical performance is calculated and compared for both structures. The quantum efficiency, the spectral response and the absorption curve are compared. The presented results show that npn structure gives better electrical and optical performance than the pn one.