What are the advantages of amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells

Advantages of amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells

The reason why amorphous silicon solar cells have attracted people's attention and attention is because it has the following many advantages:

1. Amorphous silicon has a high light absorption coefficient. Especially in the visible light band of 0.3-0 .75 um, its absorption coefficient is an order of magnitude higher than that of monocrystalline Silicon. Therefore, it is more than the absorption rate of monocrystalline Silicon to solar radiation. About 40 times higher, Using a thin amorphous silicon membrane(about 1 um thick) can absorb 90 % of the useful solar energy. This is the most important feature of amorphous silicon material and the most important factor that it can become a low-cost solar cell.

2. The bandgap width of amorphous silicon is larger than that of monocrystalline Silicon, and varies with the preparation conditions in the range of 1.5-2 .0 eV. The open circuit voltage of the amorphous silicon solar cell thus produced is high.

3. The process and equipment for preparing amorphous silicon are simple, the deposition temperature is low, the time is short, and it is suitable for mass production. The production of monocrystalline Silicon cells generally requires a high temperature of more than 1,000 degrees, while the production of amorphous silicon cells requires only about 200 degrees.

4. Since amorphous silicon does not have the periodic atomic arrangement required for crystal Silicon, the lattice mismatch between the material and the substrate that must be considered for crystal preparation can be considered. Therefore, it can be deposited on almost any substrate, including cheap glass substrate, And it is easy to achieve large area.

5. The energy consumption of preparing amorphous silicon solar cells is less, about 100 kilowatt-hours, and the energy recovery year is much shorter than that of monocrystalline Silicon cells.

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