Superimposed Sacrificial Texturing to Enhance the Optical Performance in Thin‐Film Solar Cells

ABSTRACT Techniques to facilitate excellent optical yield are required to manufacture high‐performing solar cells. In thin‐film solar cells, light scattering with the help of textured interfaces increases the absorption path length of photons and reduces the reflection of the photovoltaic active layer. These textures should also facilitate the growth of crack‐free thin‐film layers, ensuring high efficiency in multijunction devices. This work explores three texturing methods for glass that have the potential to be integrated into solar cells in a superstrate configuration. A detailed study of sacrificial texturing on glass using i‐ZnO ( ) and indium‐doped tin oxide ( ) is presented. The optical interaction of these textures is correlated to their root‐mean‐square (RMS) roughness ( ). It is demonstrated that high optical scattering can be achieved for both and but at different regimes. A novel texture with superimposed morphology, named superimposed sacrificial texturing ( ), is created by combining and through sequential wet etching. The exhibits exceptional transmission and light scattering properties. Nanocrystalline silicon (nc‐Si:H) single‐junction solar cells were fabricated in a superstrate configuration to investigate the impact of these textures on indirect bandgap thin‐film solar cells. The efficiency of solar cells on is nearly 0.57% and 1.52% (absolute) more than and solar cells, respectively. By superimposing two textures, solar cells can combine the advantages of enhanced optical performance with high‐quality nc‐Si:H material growth.