https://doi.org/10.1051/epjpv/2011001
Geometrical optimization and electrical performance comparison of thin-film tandem structures based on pm-Si:H and μc-Si:H using computer simulation*
1
Institut d’Électronique du Solide et des Systèmes (InESS) CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, BP 20 CR, 67037 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France
2
Laboratoire de Génie Électrique de Paris, CNRS UMR 8507, SUPELEC, Université Paris-Sud, UPMC Univ Paris VI, 11 rue Joliot-Curie, Plateau de Moulon, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
3
Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et Couches Minces, École polytechnique, CNRS, 91128 Palaiseau, France
a
e-mail: foudil.dadouche@iness.c-strasbourg.fr
Received: 1 July 2010
Accepted: 10 January 2011
Published online:
1
April
2011
This article investigates the optimal efficiency of a photovoltaic system based on a silicon thin film tandem cell using polymorphous and microcrystalline silicon for the top and bottom elementary cells, respectively. Two ways of connecting the cells are studied and compared: (1) a classical structure in which the two cells are electrically and optically coupled; and (2) a new structure for which the “current-matching” constraint is released by the electrical decoupling of the two cells. For that purpose, we used a computer simulation to perform geometrical optimization of the studied structures as well as their electrical performance evaluation. The simulation results show that the second structure is more interesting in terms of efficiency.
© EDP Sciences 2011
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