Plasmonic Nanostructures for Enhanced Solar Energy Harvesting in Thin-Film Photovoltaic Devices

Abstract

Thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices offer notable benefits in terms of material efficiency, flexibility, and cost. Still, they suffer from poor light absorption and low power conversion efficiency due to their thin absorber thickness. To tackle this issue, this paper examines the incorporation of plasmonic nanostructures in state-of-the-art solar energy harvesting in thin-film photovoltaic systems. Strategic placement of the metal nanostructures at the front and intermediate layers of the PV stack aims to exploit localized surface plasmon resonance and light-scattering effects. The suggested methodology will combine electromagnetic time-domain finite-difference simulation and experimental validation of thin-film silicon and perovskite solar cells. The systematically measured characteristics of optical absorption, photocurrent density, and total device efficiency are over the wavelength range of 300-900 nm. The findings indicate a significant enhancement in optical utility, with broadband absorption improved by 28% to 42% in plasmonic structures compared to reference devices without plasmonic structures. The density of short-circuit current doubles, on average, by 18-25 %, and the overall power conversion efficiency increases by 2.1-3.4 % depending on nanostructure geometry and material composition. Importantly, nanostructures with diameters of 80-120 nm achieve the highest enhancement by reducing parasitic losses and maximising near-field coupling. The paper concludes that plasmonic nanostructure integration can be viable and scalable to overcome light-trapping effects in thin-film photovoltaics. These results demonstrate how plasmon-enhanced structures can advance the next generation of high-performance, low-cost solar energy technologies.