Comparison of bioinspired hillock and pit textures for silicon solar cells

Francesco Chiadini, Vincenzo Fiumara, Antonio Scaglione, Akhlesh Lakhtakia

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Inspired by the apposition compound eyes of some dipterans, we analyzed the effect of texturing the exposed face of a silicon solar cell by ray-tracing simulation. Bioinspired textures of two types were considered: hillock textures and pit textures. A multifrequency analysis-that took into account the broadband nature of solar radiation and its amplitude at the sea-level, as well as the wavelength dependence of the complex-valued refractive index of silicon-showed that both types of bioinspired textures are beneficial. We found that the light-coupling efficiency can be enhanced by as much as 20% and 24% with respect to that of a flat surface when the exposed face of a silicon solar cell is decorated with the bioinspired hillock texture and the bioinspired pit texture, respectively.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationBioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 2014
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Print)9780819499813
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
EventBioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 2014 - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: Mar 10 2014Mar 12 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume9055
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Other

OtherBioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period3/10/143/12/14

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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