Sol—gel coatings for light trapping in crystalline thin film silicon solar cells

An increase of light absorption by light trapping is a key issue for the design of thin film solar cells from crystalline silicon. According to our numerical work, the deposition of crystalline silicon layers of thickness, W = 4μm, on textured glass substrates doubles the cell current for facet angles, α = 75°, and texture periods p < 16 μm, without the need for anti reflection coatings. We demonstrate the fabrication of such micron-sized light traps by embossing of sol—gel glasses.