ADVANCED NUMERICAL MODELING AND SIMULATION OF SILICON WAFER SOLAR CELLS

Abstract

Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources. Crystalline silicon wafer solar cells dominate today¿s global photovoltaic market. In order to make silicon wafer solar cells even more cost-effective, there is a strong interest to improve their performance and to reduce their fabrication costs. To achieve these goals, it is essential to properly understand optical and carrier recombination losses that occur in silicon wafer solar cells. Due to considerable cost and time saving, numerical modelling and simulation are progressively used in research. This thesis presents research findings for mono-crystalline silicon wafer solar cells in the following two areas: 1) Multidimensional simulation of carrier recombination losses in test structures and finished solar cells 2) Multidimensional process simulation of dopant diffusion and thermal oxidation. These research findings are important for academic and industrial players in the field of silicon wafer solar cells.