Front and Back‐Junction Carbon Nanotube‐Silicon Solar Cells with an Industrial Architecture

Abstract In the past, the application of carbon nanotube‐silicon solar cell technology to industry has been limited by the use of a metallic frame to define an active area in the middle of a silicon wafer. Here, industry standard device geometries are fabricated with a front and back‐junction design which allow for the entire wafer to be used as the active area. These are enabled by the use of an intermixed Nafion layer which simultaneously acts as a passivation, antireflective, and physical blocking layer as well as a nanotube dopant. This leads to the formation of a hybrid nanotube/Nafion passivated charge selective contact, and solar cells with active areas of 1–16 cm² are fabricated. Record maximum power conversion efficiencies of 15.2% and 18.9% are reported for front and back‐junction devices for 1 and 3 cm² active areas, respectively. By placing the nanotube film on the rear of the device in a back‐junction architecture, many of the design‐related challenges for carbon nanotube silicon solar cells are addressed and their future applications to industrialized processes are discussed.