Chapter 6
Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells
Arvind Shah
Abstract This chapter will first describe, in Sect. 6.1, the deposition method, the
physical properties and the main use of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers. The deposition technique commonly used for a-Si:H layers and cells is plasmaenhanced chemical vapour deposition (PE-CVD). The role of broken bonds (or “dangling bonds”) within amorphous layers will be highlighted. Special mention will be
made of the Staebler-Wronski effect: the increase of dangling bonds, which act as
recombination centres, under the influence of light-exposure. The present main use
of a-Si:H layers is in the form of passivation layers within the Heterojunction (HJT)
solar cell, which will be described in the next Chap. 7. Section 6.2 will deal with
amorphous silicon solar cells. First, the p-i-n structure necessary for amorphous silicon solar cells will be introduced; thereafter, typical characteristics of amorphous
silicon solar cells will be given and the advantages and disadvantages of such solar
cells listed. It will, thus, become evident, why the amorphous silicon solar cell is
the ideal candidate for the generation of electric power in the indoor situation. In
Sect. 6.3, our focus will shift to microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) layers. Again,
the plasma-assisted deposition technique used for these layers will be discussed.
µc-Si:H has been, in the past, mainly propagated for use together with a-Si:H, in a
tandem cell configuration; however, with the strong decrease in the price of waferbased crystalline silicon solar cells, these tandem cells are, at the moment, no longer
economically attractive.
A. Shah (B)
EPFL (PV-Lab), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
e-mail: arvind.shah@epfl.ch
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Shah (ed.), Solar Cells and Modules, Springer Series in Materials Science 301,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46487-5_6
139
Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells
Arvind Shah
Abstract This chapter will first describe, in Sect. 6.1, the deposition method, the
physical properties and the main use of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers. The deposition technique commonly used for a-Si:H layers and cells is plasmaenhanced chemical vapour deposition (PE-CVD). The role of broken bonds (or “dangling bonds”) within amorphous layers will be highlighted. Special mention will be
made of the Staebler-Wronski effect: the increase of dangling bonds, which act as
recombination centres, under the influence of light-exposure. The present main use
of a-Si:H layers is in the form of passivation layers within the Heterojunction (HJT)
solar cell, which will be described in the next Chap. 7. Section 6.2 will deal with
amorphous silicon solar cells. First, the p-i-n structure necessary for amorphous silicon solar cells will be introduced; thereafter, typical characteristics of amorphous
silicon solar cells will be given and the advantages and disadvantages of such solar
cells listed. It will, thus, become evident, why the amorphous silicon solar cell is
the ideal candidate for the generation of electric power in the indoor situation. In
Sect. 6.3, our focus will shift to microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) layers. Again,
the plasma-assisted deposition technique used for these layers will be discussed.
µc-Si:H has been, in the past, mainly propagated for use together with a-Si:H, in a
tandem cell configuration; however, with the strong decrease in the price of waferbased crystalline silicon solar cells, these tandem cells are, at the moment, no longer
economically attractive.
A. Shah (B)
EPFL (PV-Lab), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
e-mail: arvind.shah@epfl.ch
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Shah (ed.), Solar Cells and Modules, Springer Series in Materials Science 301,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46487-5_6
139