Analytical Device-Physics Framework for Non-Planar Solar Cells

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical physics-based framework to evaluate and compare the performance of non-planar versus planar solar cells, focusing on charge transport, recombination, and efficiency influenced by geometry.

Contribution

It introduces a unified analytical model that captures the physics of non-planar solar cells and compares their performance to planar designs, providing new insights into geometry-dependent effects.

Findings

Recombination currents vary with geometry in non-planar cells.

Generation rate and total current expressions are geometry-independent.

Space-charge region recombination depends on p-n junction orientation.

Abstract

Non-planar solar-cell devices have been promoted as a means to enhance current collection in absorber materials with charge-transport limitations. This work presents an analytical framework for assessing the ultimate performance of non-planar solar-cells based on materials and geometry. Herein, the physics of the p-n junction is analyzed for low-injection conditions, when the junction can be considered spatially separable into quasi-neutral and space-charge regions. For the conventional planar solar cell architecture, previously established one-dimensional expressions governing charge carrier transport are recovered from the framework established herein. Space-charge region recombination statistics are compared for planar and non-planar geometries, showing variations in recombination current produced from the space-charge region. In addition, planar and non-planar solar cell performance are simulated, based on a semi-empirical expression for short-circuit current, detailing variations in charge carrier transport and efficiency as a function of geometry, thereby yielding insights into design criteria for solar cell architectures. For the conditions considered here, the expressions for generation rate and total current are shown to universally govern any solar cell geometry, while recombination within the space-charge region is shown to be directly dependent on the geometrical orientation of the p-n junction.