A Simulation Study of Hybrid Carrier Selective Passivating Contacts for n-Silicon Solar Cells

The performance investigation of silicon heterojunction solar cells is gaining considerable attention with the development of various contact schemes. Carrier selective contacts such as Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) and transition metal oxide (TMO) designs are particularly of interest due to excellent passivation, conductivity and selectivity they provide to the two types of carriers. In this paper, the performance of an n-silicon heterojunction solar cell using TOPCon and TMO contacts is investigated. The figures of merit for the proposed cell are extracted at the outset. Further optical analysis, effect of parameters like absorber thickness and interface passivation are discussed. The reported results emphasize on the merits of front wide band-gap TMO and use of passivation layers for improving the performance of the solar cell using hybrid carrier selective passivating contacts.