Past and future of graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells: a review

Abstract

Graphene/silicon (Gr/Si) Schottky junction solar cells represent an alternative low-cost, easy fabrication structure in photovoltaic devices. After graphene's emergence in 2004, the first Gr/Si solar cell was fabricated in 2010, and was able to achieve upto 15% efficiency in less than a decade. This breakthrough in cell efficiency was realized by the fact that Gr has tremendous electrical and optical properties for photovoltaic applications. In this review, we highlight some of the recent progress in Gr/Si heterojunction solar cells. The growth processes of 2D graphene using the CVD process are discussed in detail. Afterwards, the key parameters that help to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of solar cells are considered. The interface of Gr/Si and the effects of chemical doping on the cell parameters were studied. Lastly, the challenges and limitations along with the future developments for Gr/Si solar cells are discussed in detail.