TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimization approach for optical absorption in three-dimensional structures including solar cells
AU - Civiletti, Benjamin J.
AU - Anderson, Tom H.
AU - Ahmad, Faiz
AU - Monk, Peter B.
AU - Lakhtakia, Akhlesh
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper was substantially based on a paper titled “Optimization of charge-carrier generation in amorphous-silicon thin-film tandem solar cell backed by two-dimensional metallic surface-relief grating,” presented at the SPIE conference Next Generation Technologies for Solar Energy Conversion VIII, held August 5 to 11, 2017 in San Diego, California, United States. The research of B.J. Civiletti, T.H. Anderson, and P.B. Monk is partially supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant number DMS-1619904. The research of F. Ahmed and A. Lakhtakia is partially supported by the US NSF under grant number DMS-1619901. A. Lakhtakia thanks the Charles Godfrey Binder Endowment at the Pennsylvania State University for ongoing support of his research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - The rigorous coupled-wave approach (RCWA) and the differential evolution algorithm (DEA) were coupled in a practicable approach to maximize absorption in optical structures with three-dimensional morphology. As a model problem, optimal values of four geometric parameters and the bandgaps of three i-layers were found for an amorphous-silicon, multiterminal, thin-film tandem solar cell comprising three p - i - n junctions with a metallic hexagonally corrugated backreflector. When the optical short-circuit current density was chosen as the figure of merit to be maximized, only the bandgap of the topmost i-layer was significant and the remaining six parameters played minor roles. While this configuration would absorb light very well, it would have poor electrical performance. This issue arises because the optimization problem allows for the thicknesses and bandgaps of the semiconductor layers to change. We therefore devised another figure of merit that takes into account bandgap changes by estimating the open-circuit voltage. The resulting configuration was found to be optimal with respect to all seven variable parameters. The RCWA + DEA optimization approach is applicable to other types of photovoltaic solar cells as well as optical absorbers, with the choice of the figure of merit being vital to a successful outcome.
AB - The rigorous coupled-wave approach (RCWA) and the differential evolution algorithm (DEA) were coupled in a practicable approach to maximize absorption in optical structures with three-dimensional morphology. As a model problem, optimal values of four geometric parameters and the bandgaps of three i-layers were found for an amorphous-silicon, multiterminal, thin-film tandem solar cell comprising three p - i - n junctions with a metallic hexagonally corrugated backreflector. When the optical short-circuit current density was chosen as the figure of merit to be maximized, only the bandgap of the topmost i-layer was significant and the remaining six parameters played minor roles. While this configuration would absorb light very well, it would have poor electrical performance. This issue arises because the optimization problem allows for the thicknesses and bandgaps of the semiconductor layers to change. We therefore devised another figure of merit that takes into account bandgap changes by estimating the open-circuit voltage. The resulting configuration was found to be optimal with respect to all seven variable parameters. The RCWA + DEA optimization approach is applicable to other types of photovoltaic solar cells as well as optical absorbers, with the choice of the figure of merit being vital to a successful outcome.
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U2 - 10.1117/1.OE.57.5.057101
DO - 10.1117/1.OE.57.5.057101
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046799054
VL - 57
JO - SPIE J
JF - SPIE J
SN - 0091-3286
IS - 5
M1 - 057101
ER -