Simulation and Optimization of Nano-structured Gratings Alternative of Thin-film Anti-Reflectors for GaAs Solar Cells Conversion Efficiency Improvement

Modern civilization demands energy, and the energy demand is increasing almost every day all over the world. The dependency on conventional energy resources including fossil fuel, oil, gas, coal etc. are not in favor of having sustainable global earth. For this reason, renewable or clean energy is one only option while acquiring energy from the abundant sunlight is the best and cost-effective choice. Photovoltaic (PV) panels are widely employed as clean and environmentally acceptable energy sources. However, due to restrictions in PV cells, the sun’s full energy cannot be turned into electricity. In this paper, we discuss how to improve the conversion efficiency of GaAs solar cells by optimizing the design and performance of nanostructured gratings. We design, simulate, and analyze the performance of three alternative arrangements of periodic nanostructures with varied pitches and heights using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) approach. Different geometries of nanostructures behave differently towards impinging the light, as the simulation results.