Potential of PEDOT:PSS as a hole selective front contact for silicon heterojunction solar cells

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that PEDOT:PSS can serve as an effective hole selective front contact in silicon heterojunction solar cells, achieving efficiencies up to 14.8% and providing insights into interface passivation and optical losses.

Contribution

It introduces PEDOT:PSS as a novel front contact material for SHJ solar cells and analyzes interface recombination and optical losses to optimize device performance.

Findings

Power conversion efficiency up to 14.8%

Recombination velocity at PEDOT:PSS/c-Si interface ~ 400 m/s

Identified parasitic absorption and reflection losses

Abstract

We show that the highly conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) can successfully be applied as a hole selective front contact in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. In combination with a superior electron selective heterojunction back contact based on amorphous silicon (a-Si), mono-crystalline n-type silicon (c-Si) solar cells reach power conversion efficiencies up to 14.8% and high open-circuit voltages exceeding 660 mV. Since in the PEDOT:PSS/c-Si/a-Si solar cell the inferior hybrid junction is determining the electrical device performance we are capable of assessing the recombination velocity v_I at the PEDOT:PSS/c-Si interface. An estimated v_I of ~ 400 m/s demonstrates, that while PEDOT:PSS shows an excellent selectivity on n-type c-Si, the passivation quality provided by the formation of a native oxide at the c-Si surface restricts the performance of the hybrid junction. Furthermore, by comparing the measured external quantum efficiency with optical simulations, we quantify the losses due to parasitic absorption of PEDOT:PSS and reflection of the device layer stack. By pointing out ways to better passivate the hybrid interface and to increase the photocurrent we discuss the full potential of PEDOT:PSS as a front contact in SHJ solar cells.