Schottky solar cells on thin epitaxial silicon

Schottky solar cells fabricated on 10, 20 and 30 μm epitaxial silicon produce a current density ranging from about 10-22 mA/cm², depending on Si thickness and orientation, in close agreement with theoretically predicted data. These results are also in close agreement with recent data on p-n solar cells, using thin epitaxial silicon. Data reported herein predict that 10% efficient Schottky solar cells could be produced using about 20 μ of silicon on a suitable substrate. A 7.6% efficient Schottky solar cell on epitaxial silicon has been recently fabricated and tested using AM1 sunlight (100 mW/cm²).