Surface Engineering of Solar Cells to Improve Efficiency

In recent years, various solar cells have been developed that have involved silicon wafer-based systems, and various thin films. Solar cell efficiency highly depends on the surface characteristics of the solar cells. Other than efficiency, reflectivity and scattering depends on the surface parameters. In this review article, various synthesis techniques for solar cells are discussed that include vacuum-assisted and non-vacuum techniques. Surface characteristics, such as surface roughness and textures developed during synthesis or by chemical etching and lithography techniques, are discussed that affect the solar cell performance. The article highlights the importance of surface engineering for solar cells that can guide the building of multifunctional composite films for self-cleaning, antireflective, antifogging and invisibility cloak coating.