Advanced TCAD Simulation Helps Optimize Solar Cell Efficiency
Authors from Synopsys Inc. provide a look at how solar cells work, and the role simulation can contribute to higher conversion efficiencies. "Solar cells are essentially pn-junction diodes. Under applied voltage, an electric field is set up in the pn-junction depletion region, allowing electrons and holes generated within the field via photon absorption to be swept away to the cell contacts, resulting in electric current," they explain in a contributed article to the July issue of Semiconductor International.