Fundamentals of thin solar cells

It is now widely recognized that thin solar cells can present certain advantages for performance and cost. This is particularly the case when light trapping in the semiconductor film is incorporated, as compensation for the diminished single path thickness of the solar cell. In a solar cell thinner than a minority carrier diffusion length, the current collection is of course very easy. More importantly the concentration of an equivalent number of carriers in a thinner volume results in a higher Free Energy, or open circuit voltage. This extra Free Energy may be regarded as due to the concentration factor, just as it would be for photons, electrons, or for any chemical species. The final advantage of a thin solar cell is in the diminished material usage, a factor of considerable importance when we consider the material cost of the high quality semiconductors which we hope to employ.