Design and Simulation of Rear Emitter Heterojunction Solar Cell with Silicon Carbide Front Surface Field Layer

In this article, the rear junction heterojunction solar cells with siliconcarbide (SiC) front surface field (FSF) layer are proposed andinvestigated. The rear junction solar cells with a p-type emitter havegained significant attention, especially in the context of silicon (Si)heterojunction cells. Heterojunction cells offer several advantages overfront junction cells. In front junction cells, the high/low junctionconfiguration can lead to a loss of two-dimensional carrier collection. Incontrast, the rear emitter structure in heterojunction cells is lessimpacted by optical losses due to its thickness. Additionally, the rearemitter structure provides more flexibility in terms of structural design,sheet resistance, and surface morphology. The proposed structureincludes a Si heterostructure with a SiC layer as the front surface fieldand Al۲O۳ and SiN passivation layers at the rear and front surfaces,respectively. By incorporating a wideband gap front layer of SiC as thefront surface field, we obtained an improved efficiency of about ۲۷.۲۳%and an open-circuit voltage of ۷۱۴ mV.

Keywords:

Rear junction heterojunction , Silicon carbide (SiC) , Front surface field (FSF) , Solar cells