The Effect of Base Thickness on Photoconversion Efficiency in Textured Silicon-Based Solar Cells

A theory is developed, which describes the experimental external quantum efficiency EQE(lambda) as a function of photon wavelength for structured Si-based solar cells. Short-circuit current density as a function of base thickness, d, is calculated for the high-efficiency solar cells with the photoconversion efficiency eta >= 25%. The procedure allows one to carry out a complete optimization of such solar cells, in particular, to find the optimal base thickness, d(opt).