Solar Cell Design Employing a Textured Surface

Planar-junction, 1 mm x 1 mm, p+/n/n+ silicon solar cells, both with and without a textured surface, were fabricated in order to study the effects of decreased surface reflectance on cell efficiency. The texturing process was performed through the use of a KOH preferential etchant and an array of 10um x 10um windows to form an oxide masking layer. Inverted pyramids etched to points with final base widths being 13.7 microns due to undercutting of the masking oxide. Completed cells, evaluated at an irradiance of 100 mW/cm2, showed greater efficiences for the textured surface, but outputs of both were limited by series resistance