title: High efficiency thin upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon solar cells on flexible substrates.
abstract: We present a thin film (<20 μm) solar cell based on upgraded metallurgical-grade polycrystalline Si that utilizes silver nanoparticles atop silicon nanopillars created by block copolymer nanolithography to enhance light absorption and increase cell efficiency η > 8%. In addition, the solar cells are flexible and semitransparent so as to reduce balance of systems costs and open new applications for conformable solar cell arrays on a variety of surfaces. Detailed studies on the optical and electrical properties of the resulting solar cells suggest that both antireflective and light-trapping mechanisms are key to the enhanced efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jae Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Duck Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chitambar
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maldonado
authors.forename: Anish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tuteja
authors.forename: Akram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boukai