Light trapping in thin silicon solar cells: A review on fundamentals and technologies

2021/06/07 by Rebecca Saive · 3 citations
Engineering · #Nanowire Synthesis and Applications #Silicon and Solar Cell Technologies #Thin-Film Transistor Technologies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/pip.3440

openalex publication_date 2021/06/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Abstract Thin, flexible, and efficient silicon solar cells would revolutionize the photovoltaic market and open up new opportunities for PV integration. However, as an indirect semiconductor, silicon exhibits weak absorption for infrared photons and the efficient absorption of the full above bandgap solar spectrum requires careful photon management. This review paper provides an overview on the fundamental physics of light trapping and explains known theoretical limits. Technologies that have been developed to improve light trapping will be discussed, and limitations will be addressed.

Citations

• Photonic Crystals: Semiconductors of Light
• Statistical ray optics

Cited by

• Numerical Simulation of Lead-Free Absorbers in 2D Dion-Jacobson Phase Perovskite Solar Cells Using SCAPS-1D: Towards 41% Efficiency
• Optics for terawatt-scale photovoltaics: review and perspectives
• On the reliability of the collective coordinate method to simulate metasurfaces with correlated disorder used for light management

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