Utilisation des couches minces à base des matériaux IV-IV dans les applications photovoltaïques.

Abstract

In the last 20 years there has been a growing interest in renewable and natural energies like the sun. Their main advantage is that they are permanently available to mankind. One of the most used energies is the solar photovoltaic energy. The current photovoltaic industry uses silicon as the basic material, the second most abundant element on earth in the form of sand. Despite all the efforts to develop the photovoltaic field, the production volumes have always remained insufficient. Therefore, the photovoltaic industry still needs to increase its capacity and reduce its cost per kWh. This must be done by improving the efficiency of solar cells and reducing their production costs. Thin films have economic advantages in the production of large-scale solar modules with high efficiency. The choices are turned towards materials with high absorption coefficient where the required thicknesses will be of the order of µm. In this study, the feasibility of the application of SiGe alloy and porous silicon (SiP) and their integration in thin film solar cells is investigated. The interest is to increase the photocurrent through to a greater absorption in the Infra Red (IR). SiP is used as an antireflection layer and as a passivation layer for the emitter of the cell.