Plasmonic Light-Management Interfaces by Polyol-Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles for Industrial Scale Silicon Solar Cells

Plasmonic interfaces are used as an alternative and highly effective light management technique for solar cells. Top-down approaches produce well-ordered and carefully designed plasmonic structures for tailor-made light management; however, they are costly, and their fabrication is time-consuming. Thus, their utilization for industrial-scale solar cells is not trivial. It has been shown that dewetting is a cost- and time-effective bottom-up approach for the fabrication of plasmonic interfaces, yet it lacks precise control of the surface coverage for optimum light management. Therefore, new strategies are actively sought. In this work, the spray coating technique is used to deposit plasmonic interfaces with polyol synthesized silver bipyramidal nanocubes onto industrial-scale monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Through a systematic study, the effect of surface coverage on cell performance is investigated, as it is essential to utilize the interface in well-controlled amounts for optimal light management. A relative increase in the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 3.5–6.4% upon creating localized surface plasmon resonance-based plasmonic interfaces is demonstrated.