Author(s)

Mamadou Moustapha Diop, Alassane Diaw, Nacire Mbengue, Ousmane Ba, Moulaye Diagne, Oumar A. Niasse, Bassirou Ba, Joseph Sarr

Laboratory of Semiconductor and Solar Energy, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Techniques, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal.

Depositing an antireflection coating on the front surface of solar cells allows a significant reduction in reflection losses. It thus allows an increase in the efficiency of the cells. A modeling of the refractive indices and the thicknesses of an optimal antireflection coating has been proposed. Thus, the average reflective losses can be reduced to less than 8% and less than 2.4% in a large wavelength range respectively for a single-layer and double-layer anti-reflective coating types. However, the difficulty of finding these model materials (materials with the same refractive index) led us to introduce two notions: the refractive index difference and the thickness difference. These two notions allowed us to compare the reflectivity of the antireflection layer in silicon surface. Thus, the lower the refractive index difference is, the more the material resembles to the ideal material (in refractive index), and thus its reflective losses are minimal. SiNx and SiO₂/TiO₂ antireflection layers, in the wavelength range between 400 and 1100 nm, have reduced the average reflectivity losses to less than 9% and 2.3% respectively.

Antireflection Layer, Reflectivity, Refractive Index, Thickness

Diop, M. , Diaw, A. , Mbengue, N. , Ba, O. , Diagne, M. , Niasse, O. , Ba, B. and Sarr, J. (2018) Optimization and Modeling of Antireflective Layers for Silicon Solar Cells: In Search of Optimal Materials. Materials Sciences and Applications, 9, 705-722. doi: 10.4236/msa.2018.98051.