Diffractive optical elements utilized for efficiency enhancement of photovoltaic modules

2011/05/26 by Ilya Mingareev, René Berlich, Toni Eichelkraut +3 · 4 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · Engineering · #Optical Coatings and Gratings #Photonic Crystals and Applications #Thin-Film Transistor Technologies #Photovoltaic system #Optics #Materials science #Diffraction efficiency #Planar #Optoelectronics #Diffraction #Solar cell efficiency #Laser #Semiconductor #Electromagnetic radiation #Ultrashort pulse #Solar cell #Physics #Computer science

paper · doi:10.1364/oe.19.011397

openalex publication_date 2011/05/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

Common solar cells used in photovoltaic modules feature metallic contacts which partially block the sunlight from reaching the semiconductor layer and reduce the overall efficiency of the modules. Diffractive optical elements were generated in the bulk glass of a photovoltaic module by ultrafast laser irradiation to direct light away from the contacts. Calculations of the planar electromagnetic wave diffraction and propagation were performed using the rigorous coupled wave analysis technique providing quantitative estimations for the potential efficiency enhancement of photovoltaic modules.

Citations

• Light management for reduction of bus bar and gridline shadowing in photovoltaic modules

Cited by

• Increasing light capture in silicon solar cells with encapsulants incorporating air prisms to reduce metallic contact losses
• All‐Angle Invisibility Cloaking of Contact Fingers on Solar Cells by Refractive Free‐Form Surfaces
• Polymer Encapsulants Incorporating Light‐Guiding Architectures to Increase Optical Energy Conversion in Solar Cells
• Solar cell [wikipedia]

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