Enhanced Broadband Absorption in Crystalline Si Solar Cells with Parabola Textured Front Surface and Plasmonic Nanoparticles

Nanotextured front surface with sub-wavelength plasmonic properties shows excellent broad-spectrum light absorption capabilities in solar cells having extremely thin Si layers. In this study, we explore how periodic Si paraboloids, embedded with silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs), can effectively capture light and enhance the operational efficiency of solar cells. A layer of crystalline silicon (c-Si) with a thickness of 2 µm is used as the active medium and nano-paraboloids are utilized to channel incident solar rays into guided modes. To maximize absorption, we fine-tune the nanostructure geometry, periodicity, and Ag NP size. We observe an average absorption enhancement of 6.3% (in the wavelength span of 300 to 1600 nm) and 29% (in the span of 800 to 1600 nm) with nano-paraboloids coated with Ag NPs (diameter of 45 nm) compared to the uncoated nano-paraboloids.