Analytical design of antireflection coatings for silicon photovoltaic devices

Reflectivity and maximum short-circuit current for multilayer optical coating structures have been calculated analytically. This approach has been used to optimize antireflection coatings for silicon solar cells. Triple coating structures are indicated instead of the conventional two layer ones, especially when the goal is to minimize reflectivity in the UV range. The same approach was used to calculate the maximum short-circuit current for grooved surface solar cells. The results for flat and grooved surface solar cells were compared. This work shows that texturized cells need only one coating layer to achieve the same photocurrent obtained for flat surface cells with three layer coatings. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.