NREL Adopts Synopsys TCAD Simulation for Solar Cell Development
Synopsys Inc. announced that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has adopted its Sentaurus TCAD for simulating solar cell characteristics. NREL has begun using the software to improve performance in thin-film cells.
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor -- PV Society, 10/7/2009
EDA vendor Synopsys Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.) announced that the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has adopted its Sentaurus TCAD for simulating solar cell characteristics. NREL has begun using the software to improve performance in various thin-film cells.
Synopsys comes from the semiconductor design and verification space. The company made its first public disclosure of a customer in the PV arena in early April, reporting that the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) adopted its Sentaurus TCAD for silicon-based solar cell research.
NREL is a significant solar win for Synopsys since it has been at the forefront of solar energy research, including the development and demonstration of an inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cell with record efficiency of 40.8%. The lab also has research programs in thin-film and organic PV solar cells.
TCAD uses computer simulation to model processing and device operation, providing insight into fundamental physical phenomena. Sentaurus TCAD simulations provide NREL scientists with insight into the physical mechanisms that drive solar cell performance, thereby supporting the development of more efficient solar cell designs. The simulations include the definition of the solar radiation incident on the cell, its reflection through antireflective coatings and surface texturing, and the absorption of the light and conversion to electrical current within semiconductor regions of the cell.
"Solar cells are very complex, with many material layers and design trade-offs affecting major performance metrics such as efficiency," said Dean Levi, a principal scientist at NREL. "We view simulation as an important tool to understand the internal physics of our designs and to point towards ways to improve them."
NREL has recently begun using Sentaurus TCAD to create polycrystalline thin-film CIGS, CdTe and silicon solar cells. These cells have illustrated how material properties, grain boundaries, non-uniformity and interdigitated designs affect both device performance and characterization.
"The photovoltaic industry is experiencing tremendous growth and continues to drive toward higher efficiency and innovative solar cell designs," said Howard Ko, general manager and senior vice president of the Silicon Engineering Group at Synopsys. "Having NREL as a user of our tools enables us to better understand the challenges and new directions of the fast-changing photovoltaic field."
