Silicon-Light: a European FP7 Project Aiming at High Efficiency Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells on Foil

Silicon-Light is a European FP7 project, which started January 1st, 2010 and aims at development of low cost, high-efficiency thin film silicon solar cells on foil. Three main routes are explored to achieve these goals: a) advanced light trapping by implementing nanotexturization through UV Nano Imprinting Lithography (UV-NIL); b) growth of crack-free silicon absorber layers on highly textured substrates; c) development of new TCOs which should combine the best properties of presently available materials like ITO and AZO. The paper presents the midterm status of the project results, showing model calculations of ideal nanotextures for light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells; the fabrication of masters and the replication and roll-to-roll fabrication of these nanotextures. Further, results on ITO variants with improved work function are presented. Finally, the status of cell fabrication on foils with nanotexture is shown. Microcrystalline and amorphous silicon single junction cells with stable efficiencies with more than 8 % have been made, paving the way towards a-Si/ c-Si tandem cells with more than 11% efficiency.