Journal
JOURNAL OF OPTICS
Volume 17, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/2040-8978/17/5/055901
Keywords
photovoltaics; light trapping; ray tracing
Categories
Funding
- DOE SunShot Initiative award [DE-EE0005320]
- DOE EFRC S3TEC Center award [DE-SC0001299/DE-FG02-09ER46577]
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We show via numerical simulations that the absorption and solar energy conversion efficiency of a thin-film photovoltaic (PV) cell can be significantly enhanced by embedding it into an optical cavity. A reflective hemi-ellipsoid with an aperture for sunlight placed over a tilted PV cell reflects unabsorbed photons back to the cell, allowing for multiple opportunities for absorption. Ray tracing simulations predict that with the proposed cavity a textured thin-film silicon cell can exceed the Yablonovitch (Lambertian) limit for absorption across a broad wavelength range, while the performance of the cavity-embedded planar PV cell approaches that of the cell with the surface texturing.
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