Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells

© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI.This paper presents the design and analysis of nano-structured gratings to improve the conversion efficiency in GaAs solar cells by reducing the light reflection losses. A finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulation tool is used to design and simulate the lig...

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Main Authors: Das, Narottam, Islam, Syed
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19612
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author Das, Narottam
Islam, Syed
author_facet Das, Narottam
Islam, Syed
author_sort Das, Narottam
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI.This paper presents the design and analysis of nano-structured gratings to improve the conversion efficiency in GaAs solar cells by reducing the light reflection losses. A finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulation tool is used to design and simulate the light reflection losses of the subwavelength grating (SWG) structure in GaAs solar cells. The SWG structures perform as an excellent alternative antireflective (AR) coating due to their capacity to reduce the reflection losses in GaAs solar cells. It allows the gradual change in the refractive index that confirms an excellent AR and the light trapping properties, when compared with the planar thin film structures. The nano-rod structure performs as a single layer AR coating, whereas the triangular (i.e., conical or perfect cone) and parabolic (i.e., trapezoidal/truncated cone) shaped nano-grating structures perform as a multilayer AR coating. The simulation results confirm that the reflection loss of triangular-shaped nano-grating structures having a 300-nm grating height and a 830-nm period is about 2%, which is about 28% less than the flat type substrates. It also found that the intermediate (i.e., trapezoidal and parabolic)-shaped structures, the light reflection loss is lower than the rectangular shaped nano-grating structure, but higher than the triangular shaped nano-grating structure. This analysis confirmed that the triangular shaped nano-gratings are an excellent alternative AR coating for conversion efficiency improvement in GaAs solar cells.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-196122017-09-13T13:43:08Z Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells Das, Narottam Islam, Syed © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI.This paper presents the design and analysis of nano-structured gratings to improve the conversion efficiency in GaAs solar cells by reducing the light reflection losses. A finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulation tool is used to design and simulate the light reflection losses of the subwavelength grating (SWG) structure in GaAs solar cells. The SWG structures perform as an excellent alternative antireflective (AR) coating due to their capacity to reduce the reflection losses in GaAs solar cells. It allows the gradual change in the refractive index that confirms an excellent AR and the light trapping properties, when compared with the planar thin film structures. The nano-rod structure performs as a single layer AR coating, whereas the triangular (i.e., conical or perfect cone) and parabolic (i.e., trapezoidal/truncated cone) shaped nano-grating structures perform as a multilayer AR coating. The simulation results confirm that the reflection loss of triangular-shaped nano-grating structures having a 300-nm grating height and a 830-nm period is about 2%, which is about 28% less than the flat type substrates. It also found that the intermediate (i.e., trapezoidal and parabolic)-shaped structures, the light reflection loss is lower than the rectangular shaped nano-grating structure, but higher than the triangular shaped nano-grating structure. This analysis confirmed that the triangular shaped nano-gratings are an excellent alternative AR coating for conversion efficiency improvement in GaAs solar cells. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19612 10.3390/en9090690 fulltext
spellingShingle Das, Narottam
Islam, Syed
Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
title Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
title_full Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
title_fullStr Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
title_full_unstemmed Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
title_short Design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
title_sort design and analysis of nano-structured gratings for conversion efficiency improvement in gaas solar cells
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19612