Variation in the Optical Properties of the SiC-SiO₂ Composite Antireflection Layer in Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Annealing

This study showed the effects of annealing on a sol–gel-derived SiC-SiO₂ composite antireflection (AR) layer and investigated the optical and photovoltaic properties of crystalline silicon (Si) solar cells. The SiC-SiO₂ composite AR coating showed a considerable decrease in reflectance from 7.18% to 3.23% at varying annealing temperatures of 450–800°C. The refractive indices of the SiC-SiO₂ composite AR layer were tuned from 2.06 to 2.45 with the increase in annealing temperature. The analysis of the current density–voltage characteristics indicated that the energy conversion efficiencies of the fabricated Si solar cells gradually increased from 16.99% to 17.73% with increasing annealing temperatures of 450–800°C. The annealing of the SiC-SiO₂ composite AR layer in Si solar cells was crucial to improving the optical, morphological, and photovoltaic properties.