Comparison of Ag and SiO₂ Nanoparticles for Light Trapping Applications in Silicon Thin Film Solar Cells

Plasmonic and photonic light trapping structures can significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells. This work presents an experimental and computational comparison of identically shaped metallic (Ag) and nonmetallic (SiO₂) nanoparticles integrated to the back contact of amorphous silicon solar cells. Our results show comparable performance for both samples, suggesting that minor influence arises from the nanoparticle material. Particularly, no additional beneficial effect of the plasmonic features due to metallic nanoparticles could be observed.