Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3
Silicon
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02515-2
RESEARCH
Effect Of Zinc Oxide—Aluminium Oxide Mechanical Blends
for Boosting the Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell Performance
through Antireflection Properties
Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan
1
· Uma Gandhi
2
· Rajasekar Rathanasamy
3
· Mohankumar Subramanian
4
·
Suganeswaran Kandasamy
1
· Raja Gunasekaran
5
· Sathish Kumar Palaniappan
6
Received: 28 January 2023 / Accepted: 15 May 2023
© Springer Nature B.V. 2023
Abstract
In the current context, there is a great desire to develop renewable energy sources as a power source. In order to improve the
power conversion efficiency (PCE) of silicon solar cells, several studies are being undertaken in this area. This investigation
focuses on preparing ZnO-Al
2
O
3
blend as an antireflective coating (ARC) for improving the efficiency of polycrystalline
silicon power conversion. The sol—gel method was employed to synthesis ZnO-Al
2
O
3
blend which is produced by mixing
zinc oxide with aluminium oxide. The spin coating process was used to deposit single to four layers of ZnO-Al
2
O
3
blend on a
silicon solar substrate. The thickness of ZnO-Al
2
O
3
coating obtained was measured with the help of atomic force microscopy
(i.e.40 nm).The effect of zinc oxide and aluminium oxide coating on electrical, structural and optical characteristics of coated
polycrystalline silicon solar cells, as well as cell temperature is investigated. A layer deposition of a single to multiple layers
on a silicon solar cell was identified by an increase in layer thickness. At a low cell temperature (40 °C), the triple layer(LIII)
deposition attained a maximum absorbance of 92% and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.8%, demonstrating that
photons diffuse on the solar cells were increased. The results show that zinc oxide and aluminium oxide mixture is a good
anti-reflection coating material in improving silicon solar cell power conversion efficiency.
Keywords Antireflection coating · Zinc oxide · Aluminium oxide · Spin coating · Sol–gel method · Polycrystalline solar
cell
1 Introduction
Increased industrialization and worldwide population results
in increased CO
2
emissions and global energy demand. Most
of the power produced in the world were from fossil fuels
such as coal, oil, and natural gases. There is an increase in
demand for electrical energy day by day and there are many
critical issues in the development of sustainable power gen-
eration [1–3]. In recent years, the researchers were focused
on renewable energy resources especially solar energy [4].
Solar power cells have been the primary means of harness-
ing solar energy over the time, because they are not only
sustainable but also clean and pollution-free [5]. Photovol-
taic cells can provides relatively cost-effective and high-effi-
ciency ways of generating electricity. Solar panels efficiency
were hampered by variables such as high initial cost and
sensitivity of glass surface [6]. However, the performance
of solar cells might be affected by various reasons such as
thermal cycling, reflection loss at the air/module contact,
* Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan
gobinath.v.k@gmail.com
1
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu
Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu 638060, India
2
Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli,
Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 620015, India
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering
College, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu 638060, India
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongunadu College
of Engineering and Technology, Trichy, Tamil Nadu 621215,
India
5
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Velalar College
of Engineering and Technology, Thindal, Erode 638012,
Tamil Nadu, India
6
Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302,
India