Microcrystalline single and double junction silicon based solar cells entirely prepared by HWCVD on textured zinc oxide substrate

Abstract Microcrystalline silicon based single junction pin and amorphous-microcrystalline double junction pinpin solar cells were fabricated entirely by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition on textured zinc oxide substrates. The short circuit current density for microcrystalline pin cells shows an increase of 20–25% compared to unetched zinc oxide, indicating a better light trapping on textured zinc oxide substrate. The best initial conversion efficiency obtained for an all hot-wire microcrystalline p–i–n solar cell was 7.6%. Micromorph a-Si:H/μc-Si:H pinpin tandem solar cells were also investigated entirely by hot-wire CVD showing best initial conversion efficiency η  = 8.25%. The microcrystalline pin cells show an increase of series resistance even in the dark resulting in decrease of fill factor, however micromorph pinpin cells are stable in the dark. This instability of μc-Si:H pin cells could be mainly attributed to inter-diffusion at the TCO-p interfacial region.