The effects of a double layer anti-reflection coating for a buried contactsolar cell application

Theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on a double laye r anti-reflection (DLAR) coating of MgF2/CeO2. We investigated CeO2 films a s an AR layer because they have a proper refractive index of 2.46 and demon strate the same lattice constant as the Si substrate. An optimized DLAR coa ting showed a reflectance value as low as 1.87% over wavelengths ranging fr om 0.4 to 1.1 mum. Buried contact solar cells (BCSC) were investigated usin g the following structure: MgF2/CeO2/Ag/Cu/Ni grid/n(+) emitter/p-type Si b ase/P+/Al. The BCSC efficiency under an illumination of 50 mW/cm(2) measure d as high as 19.9% when employing DLAR coatings. MgF2/CeO2 DLAR coatings on the BCSC cell contributed to an increase of the fill factor (from 71% to 7 5%) and the J(sc) (from 19.8 mA/cm(2) to 22.6 mA/cm(2)). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.