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Abstract: Microcrystalline silicon thin‐film solar cells prepared on hexagonal tiled surfaces exhibit record short‐circuit current densities and energy conversion efficiencies. However, it remains unclear if hexagonal textured substrates represent the best possible substrate tiling. In this study, hexagonal tiled substrates are compared with square and triangular tiled substrates in terms of photon management and microstructure. The 3D interface morphology of the individual layers of the solar cells is calculated and used as input parameters for the prediction of microcracks in the film and the simulation of 3D optical wave propagation. A comparison of the calculated interface morphologies with experimental results exhibits a good agreement for solar cells on hexagonal textured substrates, permitting calculations for solar cells on square and triangular textured substrates. The investigation of the crack formation process indicates that the square and the triangular textured substrates are superior to the hexagonal textured substrates. Finally, crack‐free triangular textured solar cells exhibit increased short‐circuit current densities compared to hexagonal and square textured solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light trapping and photon management in honeycomb-textured microcrystalline silicon solar cells are investigated experimentally and by modeling of the manufacturing process and the optical wave propagation. The solar cells on honeycomb-textured substrates exhibit short circuit current densities exceeding 30 mA/cm2 and energy conversion efficiencies of up to 11.0%. By controlling the fabrication process, the period and height of the honeycomb-textured substrates are varied. The influence of the honeycomb substrate morphology on the interfaces of the individual solar cell layers and the quantum efficiency is determined. The optical wave propagation is calculated using 3D finite difference time domain simulations. A very good agreement between the optical simulation and experimental results is obtained. Strategies are discussed on how to increase the short circuit current density beyond 30 mA/cm2. In particular, the influence of plasmonic losses of the textured silver (Ag) reflector on the short circuit current and quantum efficiency of the solar cell is discussed. Finally, solar cell structures with reduced plasmonic losses are proposed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cesium lead iodide bromide (CsPbIBr 2 ) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have improved stability compared to other perovskite compositions. However, they still face significant challenges due to their poor photovoltaic performance parameters, which limit the devices' power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). This study proposes a novel device design to tailor the potential of CsPbIBr 2 PSCs by improving their optoelectronic properties. An advanced 3D multiphysics approach was rigorously used to investigate the optics and electrical properties of the proposed CsPbIBr 2 PSCs. This approach combines finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and finite element method (FEM) techniques with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The outcome from the adapted numerical approach is in good agreement with the experimental results. The optimized CsPbIBr 2 PSC demonstrates a promising power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 16.4%, associated V OC of 1.53 V, FF of 80.6%, and J SC of 13.4 mA cm -2 . Therefore, the potential of CsPbIBr 2 perovskites could be further explored with continued research and development in material science and device physics.