Three-dimensional simulating plasmonic color of bifacial silicon solar cells with silver nanoparticles embedded within the rear antireflection layer

ABSTRACT

Herein, the structures of three types of silver nanoparticles embedded within the rear antireflection layer of silicon bifacial solar cells are investigated by performing a three-dimensional simulation based on the finite-element method. Regarding aesthetics, impressive colours are achieved with an optical gain by using plasmonic nanoparticles with a size of approximately 10 nm, which are usually considered to be unbeneficial to solar cells. The rear optical spectra and short-circuit current gain/loss of the solar cells are analysed, well reproducing the main performance features observed in the previous experiment. The underlying mechanism is that the hybrid plasmonic antireflection coating layer presents particular interference patterns modulated due to the dramatic plasmonic resonance, which compensate for the absorption loss in particles for certain structure parameters. These results pave the way towards the application of plasmonic particles with a much smaller size and open up a road for designing efficient colourful building integrated photovoltaics.

KEYWORDS:

• Plasmonic nanoparticles
• solar cells
• finite-element simulations
• building integrated photovoltaics
• colour tunability
• antireflection coating

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China [2018YFB1500300]; Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions [PAPD].