Absorber Materials for Solar Cells

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Absorber Materials for Solar Cells

Pallavi Jain, Palak Pant, Sapna Raghav, Dinesh Kumar

Solar cell production has grown rapidly in the last few decades. Essentially a solar cell (SC), known as a photovoltaic (PV) cell, is nothing more than a p-n junction, composed of a p-type and n-type semiconductor. The electric field is generated at the junction when electrons and holes pass towards the positive and negative terminals respectively. Light consists of photons, and when the light of a sufficient wavelength falls on the cells, the energy from the photon is passed to the valence band electrons, allowing electrons to move to a higher energy state called the conductive band. The entire process is carried out in the absorber layer that lies under the anti-reflective coating of the SC. Since most energy in sunlight and artificial light is within the visible range of electromagnetic radiation (EMR), a SC absorber can absorb radiation effectively at these wavelengths. Because a SC can be made using a variety of materials, its output depends solely on the properties of the material used. This chapter discusses different absorbent materials that are used for solar cells.

Keywords
Solar Cell, Photovoltaic Cell, p-n Junction, Absorber Layer

Published online 11/15/2020, 23 pages

Citation: Pallavi Jain, Palak Pant, Sapna Raghav, Dinesh Kumar, Absorber Materials for Solar Cells, Materials Research Foundations, Vol. 88, pp 236-258, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644901090-8

Part of the book on Materials for Solar Cell Technologies I

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