Photovoltaics : Light-Trapping in Crystalline Silicon and Thin-Film Solar Cells by Nanostructured Optical Coatings

This chapter presents and compares different crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell designs that can benefit from nanostructured coatings, from the point of view of both light absorption (J_sc) and surface passivation (V_oc). It presents and discusses the integration of surface Mie nanoscatterers to differenet types of c-Si solar cell architectures. The chapter also presents the application of resonant nanostructures to thin-film solar cell devices. It analyzes two thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies that can take advantage of resonant nanostructures: high-efficiency GaAs solar cells and low-cost polymer solar cells. The chapter gives an overview of other nanostructures concepts that allow improving the solar cell performance, including metal nanowire network electrodes, rear-side nanostructured reflectors, and new antireflection approaches for module glass. All the nanostructure designs presented in the chapter can be realized at the square kilometer level in a practical way by using novel nanoimprint techniques such as Substrate Conformal Imprint Lithography (SCIL).