Influence of different-sized inverted-pyramids of silicon texture by Ag manipulation on solar cell performance

Abstract As the development of PV industry, inverted pyramid has become an ideal structure to replace the upright pyramid to boost the cell efficiency. However, there is a serious gap in how surface structures with different-sized inverted pyramids influence the cell performance. In this paper, detailed comparison of optical properties and cell performances among different-sized inverted pyramids and upright pyramid are carried out to give a clear evaluation of how structure influences cell performance. The different-sized inverted pyramids were fabricated with the help of Ag manipulation, which can be attributed to the dramatic increase in the nucleation points prior to Cu deposition due to the existence of Ag during the etching process. Finally, the results indicate a strong connection with the structure size, where the largest size produces the best cell performance. The average cell efficiency of the inverted pyramids with the largest structure size is 19.955%, which is 0.15% higher than that of the upright pyramids, and the best cell efficiency obtained on the largest inverted pyramids can be as high as 20.094%, indicating that the large inverted pyramids have a great advantage in increasing the cell efficiency.