In traditional light trapping structures, the Lambertian limit is not achieved and the optimum solar cell thickness is much greater than 110 μm, as witnessed by the world-record-holding Kaneka cell.
However, silicon's abundance, and its domination of the semiconductor manufacturing industry has made it difficult for other materials to compete. An optimum silicon solar cell with light trapping and very good surface passivation is about 100 µm thick.
In order to obtain a sufficient absorption of sunlight, the film thickness of Si must be more than 700 μm which is considered a large thickness and is not preferable for commercial production of the solar cells because of its high cost and its low effect for the collection of photogenerated carriers , , , , .
In general, an increase in absorber thickness can result in higher values for two key parameters of the solar cell: short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage. This increase is attributed to the greater absorption of solar light by the solar cell, leading to a higher generation of charge carriers.
The change in the thickness of silicon solar cell has a strong influence on their performance and efficiency. In this work Si solar cells of different thickness were prepared and studied carefully for measuring their electrical and optical constants as a function of thickness. 2. Experimental work
Specifically, it is observed that Voc and FF decrease as the thickness increases, primarily due to the rise in series resistance. In general, an increase in absorber thickness can result in higher values for two key parameters of the solar cell: short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage.