Highly flexible radial tandem junction thin film solar cells with excellent power-to-weight ratio

Abstract High power-to-weight ratio (PTWR) is an important figure-of-merit for high performance flexible/portable solar cells. Marrying advanced tandem junction design with three-dimensional (3D) Si nanowire (SiNW) framework enables a promising route to boost the PTWR. In this work, a radial tandem junction (RTJ) thin film solar cell has been demonstrated, for the first time, over SiNWs, which consist of radially deposited p-i-n multilayers with hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) absorption layers in the outer and the inner junctions, respectively. The strong light trapping within the 3D SiNW framework allows for the use of a very thin a-SiGe:H (~45 nm) absorption layer to harvest efficiently the long wavelengths. The RTJ cells fabricated via a one-pump-down process in a single PECVD chamber, directly upon 15 μm thick aluminum foils demonstrate an excellent flexibility that can bend to 10 mm radius and achieve a record PTWR~1628 W/kg, and accomplish a high open-circuit voltage, filling factor and conversion efficiency of 1.2 V, 61.5% and 8.1% on glass, respectively, substantially improved compared to those accomplished by radial single junction cells. These results highlight the unique potential of 3D radial tandem technology to enable a new generation of high performance and durable flexible photovoltaics.